DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Thames Gateway

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Government organisations are involved in the administration of the Thames Gateway regeneration scheme.

Yvette Cooper: The delivery and development of the Thames Gateway programme is lead by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its agencies in partnership with other Government Departments including Department of Health, Department for Transport, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Department for Education and Skills.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list local planning authorities in the Thames Gateway which have in place an urban capacity study which meets his Department's standards.

Yvette Cooper: The Secretary of State, my right. hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister does not keep records of local planning authorities which have undertaken urban capacity studies.
	Planning Policy Guidance Note No 3: Housing", requires regional planning bodies to coordinate the programme of capacity studies undertaken by local authorities in their area and maintain consistency of approach in terms of the methodology used.

Local Government Finance

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of local government expenditure was (a) raised locally and (b) provided by grants in the 2005–06 financial year.

Phil Woolas: Some 25 per cent. of local government revenue expenditure in England in 2005–06 is estimated to be financed from council tax and 74 per cent. from Government grants.
	The data are as reported by local authorities on their Revenue Account Budget returns.

District/County Councils

Mark Francois: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent meetings he has had with local authority chief executives on the potential abolition of district and county councils.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has a programme of meetings involving local authority chief executives and Members to hear their views and ideas about future governance arrangements for places. There have been two county dialogues to date, in Shropshire and Gloucestershire, and a Roundtable in the West Midlands for council leaders. Officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have also held six meetings with council chief executives.

Housing (Northamptonshire)

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what uses his Department proposes to make of the 2021 to 2031 housing projections for North Northamptonshire contained in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-regional spatial
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Yvette Cooper: The Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-regional strategy contains a provisional planning assumption about levels of housing growth in the towns of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough for the period 2021 to 2031. These figures will be reassessed through future reviews of the regional spatial strategy.

Environmentally Sustainable Housing

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure that all new homes are environmentally sustainable.

Yvette Cooper: The Government are committed to building environmentally sustainable housing. From this April building regulations are being strengthened to deliver a 40 per cent. increase in energy efficiency compared to 2002. This is part of a wide range of measures to improve the environmental sustainability of new homes.

Council Tax

Clive Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what level of earnings a single person can have before they start paying council tax if they are (a) under 25 years and (b) over 25 years; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Council tax does not take account of earnings. However, entitlement to council tax benefit is based on a number of factors including income, capital and number of persons per household. Also, some properties may be exempt from council tax, for example if they are occupied solely by students or people under the age of 18.

Departmental Staff

Angus Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff work in the Local Government and Fire Group; how many are based in (i) London and (ii) each region and nation of the UK; how much was spent on their salaries in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by area; and what estimate he has made of the administration costs associated with the group.

Jim Fitzpatrick: As at 31 December 2005 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister had 550,72 staff on full-time equivalent (FTE) basis working in the Local Government and Fire Group, of which 463.97 (FTE) staff were based in London and 86.75 (FTE) staff elsewhere.
	The total salary costs for the 2004–05 financial year was £23.762 million and total administration costs was £29.825 million.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not monitor regional or central London administration costs separately.
	The figures above refer to England only.

Departmental Staff

Angus Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff work in the Corporate Strategy and Resources Group; how many are based in (i) London and (ii) each region and nation of the UK; how much was spent on their salaries in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by area; and what estimate he has made of the administration costs associated with the Group.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Corporate Strategy and Resources Group brings together strategy and the resources to deliver it. The group includes a strategy and performance unit, provides analytical services to the rest of the Department and delivers key corporate junctions including finance, HR, workplace services, IT, procurement, business systems, corporate change and information management.
	As at 31 December 2005 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister had 652.8 staff on full-time equivalent (FTE) basis working in the Corporate Strategy and Resources Group, of these 494.99 (FTE) staff were based in London and 157.81 (FTE) staff elsewhere.
	The total salary costs for the 2004–05 financial year was £23.624 million and total administration costs was £26.626 million.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not monitor regional or central London administration costs separately.
	The figures above refer to England only.

Infrastructure Funding (Milton Keynes)

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister by what medium the press notice issued on 16 February 2006 by his Department regarding funding for infrastructure projects in Milton Keynes was distributed to (a) the hon. Member for North-East Milton Keynes, (b) the hon. Member for Milton Keynes, South-West and (c) the press.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The press notice was issued on the 16 February on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website, electronically through the Central Office of Information and hard copies were sent to the House of Commons Lobby.

Correspondence

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter sent to him by the hon. Member for Brent East, dated 2 December 2005, regarding Mr. Brian Barker.

Phil Woolas: I replied to the hon. Member on 1 March.

National Interest Mapping Service Agreement

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) guidance he has given to Ordnance Survey on the exclusion of mapping products and services that have been wholly or partly funded via the National Interest Mapping Service Agreement from bids for the Pan Government Agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not discussed this with Ordnance Survey, nor provided guidance to Ordnance Survey on these matters.

New Deal for Communities

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent on education and training within the New Deal for Communities programme on (a) pre-16-year-olds, (b) 16 to 19-year-olds and (c) 19 years plus in (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 2005–06; and how much is planned to be spent in (A) 2006–07 and (B) 2007–08.

Phil Woolas: New Deal for Communities (NDC) expenditure information on education and training is not held centrally for the age categories required in the question. In order to avoid over-bureaucratic dictates.
	Total NDC education spending in 2004–05 was £25.2 million (9.5 per cent. of total spend), and for 2005–06 the forecast figure is £27.4 million (10 per cent.). Forecast education spend for future years is not available centrally.

Northern Way Strategy

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1627W, on the Northern Way Strategy, whether (a) Ministers and (b) Government Offices for the Regions have responsibility for (i) approving and (ii) signing off the Northern Way Strategy.

Yvette Cooper: The Northern Way arose as a response to a challenge from the Deputy Prime Minister to the three northern Regional Development Agencies to show how the North could use its assets to allow it to become more prosperous, more competitive and more dynamic.
	It is an independent initiative directed by the Northern Way Steering Group and being taken forward by the three Regional Development Agencies. The Northern Way's First Growth Strategy Report, published September 2004, was produced by the Steering Group, which contains Government representatives in its membership. The Steering Group is responsible for the approval and sign off of their strategy, though Ministers continue to follow the progress of the Northern Way closely.

Press Complaints Commission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 1247W, to the hon. Member for Pendle, on the Press Complaints Commission, what the substance was of the complaint in each case; and what the outcome was in each case.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A complaint against the Sunday Express was adjudicated by the Press Complaints Commission in September 2004. A complaint against The Sun was resolved in August 2005. Details are already in the public domain and are available to the hon. Member on the PCC website.

Respect Agenda

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how he is contributing to the Respect agenda.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is making a very significant contribution to the Respect agenda through the £39 billion Sustainable Communities Plan. The ODPM is in particular making key contributions on the specific themes of housing, family support and working to make neighbourhoods cleaner, safer and greener.
	For example:
	ODPM, along with the Respect Task Force and Department for Education and Skills (DfES), are key players in a cross departmental initiative aimed at establishing family support projects in up to 50 areas during 2006–07. This will help prevent and reduce homelessness. The projects will be delivered through the Local Area Agreement (LAA) framework.
	ODPM is co-funding the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund which will contribute to reduced crime, reducing the harm caused by illegal drugs, addressing antisocial behaviour, empowering communities and improving the condition of streets and public spaces in disadvantaged areas. And the successful Neighbourhood Managers and Wardens programmes will be rolled out more widely.
	We have allocated £1.5 billion over 2005–08 to the 86 most deprived local authority areas in England. Local Strategic Partnerships use these funds alongside their main programmes—usually concentrating on crime and antisocial behaviour, educational underachievement, worklessness, housing/environment and health issues—to improve public services and aid long term regeneration.
	Our proposed Neighbourhood Charters will provide formal, agreed, identification of the rights, duties and responsibilities between citizens, public services and others at a local, neighbourhood, level.
	The Supporting People programme will contribute to the Respect agenda by providing housing related support to vulnerable people and helping them improve their quality of life through the provision of a stable environment.
	We are also developing a Respect Standard" for housing management which will set out the core elements of a good service. We are also working to strengthen the links between enforcement tools and support packages to address the underlying causes of antisocial behaviour while simultaneously acting on the needs of the community.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he expects master planning to be undertaken for all major developments in the Thames Gateway; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister would normally expect masterplans to be compiled for all major development locations in the Thames Gateway, for example London Riverside and Ebbsfleet.
	Masterplanning has already been undertaken for several areas of the Thames Gateway including Greenwich Peninsula, Stratford and the Lower Lea and Canning Town.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many additional new jobs have been created in the five strategic planning locations in the Thames Gateway since July 2003.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not currently held centrally. A monitoring and evaluation strategy is being formulated and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to publish a baseline report in the summer.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish a regular report of progress towards the aspirations and commitments set out in his strategy Creating sustainable communities: Delivering the Thames Gateway".

Yvette Cooper: Creating sustainable communities: Delivering the Thames Gateway", published in March 2005, set out progress to date and outlined the Government's plans for the future development of the Thames Gateway.
	Later this year, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will publish a Strategic Framework for the Gateway, which will cover latest progress and form the basis of a delivery plan for the future.

PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects British troops to leave Iraq.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence to the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Mr. Moore) on 28 February 2006, Official Report, column 619W.

Parliamentary Questions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Prime Minister when he will reply to question 54463 tabled by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak, on 16 February 2006 on Guantanamo Bay.

Tony Blair: I replied to my hon. Friend on 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 1076W.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Ethical Investments

Nick Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if he will make a statement on the policy on Israel of the Ethical Investment Advisory Group of the Church of England.

Stuart Bell: The Church does not have a blanket policy on investment in Israel. The Commissioners are advised by the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group. The recent resolution of the General Synod was to review investments in certain companies involved in the Middle East. General Synod however has not resolved to disinvest and the Synod's resolution does not alter the fact that the Church Commissioners have legal responsibility conferred by Parliament to make their own investment decisions.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Badgers

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to ensure that badgers (a) killed as part of a cull and (b) otherwise found dead are disposed of in a way which does not represent a potential notifiable disease hazard.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 27 February 2006
	We are currently consulting on both the principle and method of a badger culling policy, including what methods of disposal would be suitable to minimise risk of disease transmission, assist in monitoring a cull of badgers and be practical. Decisions on whether to introduce a culling policy and, if so, how to implement it will be taken only once the consultation period has ended.
	It is unlikely that it would be possible to tell whether a badger otherwise found dead was infected with bovine TB. The presence of the bovine TB causative organism (M. bovis) is established by post-mortem examination and the bacteriological culture of samples.
	The EU Animal By-Products Regulation requires that wild animals suspected of being infected with diseases communicable to humans and animals, such as bovine TB, are disposed of at an approved plant using one of the following methods:
	(1) incineration;
	(2) rendering followed by incineration; or
	(3) pressure rendering followed by landfill.
	Information on the disposal of animal carcasses is available on the Defra website, at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/by-prods/default.htm, and from local Defra animal health offices.

Carcase Disposal

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of the ban on burning carcases; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 3 March 2006
	The EU Animal By Products Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 prohibits the 'open burning' of animal carcases. It is there to protect public and animal health from any potential risks associated with the burning of fallen stock.
	A number of disposal routes for fallen stock are permitted by the regulation including rendering, incineration or sending the carcasses to a knackers yard or hunt kennel. The National Fallen Stock Scheme, aimed at reducing the cost to farmers of disposing of their fallen stock, was launched in November 2004.

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the expected commencement date is for sections 69 to 76 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, on alarm notification areas.

Ben Bradshaw: The sections on alarm notification areas under Part 7 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 will be commenced on 6 April 2006.

Coast Protection Act

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the operation of the Coast Protection Act 1949.

Elliot Morley: Defra has policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England and provides most of the Government funding for managing that risk. Flood and coastal defence operating authorities (the Environment Agency, local authorities and internal drainage boards) are Defra's delivery partners. Operating authorities have permissive powers" which means that while they may undertake flood and coastal erosion risk measures, they are not generally obliged to do so.
	Coast Protection authorities (district or unitary councils) have permissive powers to carry out works to manage the risk of coastal erosion or encroachment by the sea under the Coast Protection Act 1949. Subject to conditions determined by the Treasury, Defra may make grants towards any expenditure. To satisfy conditions, proposals must satisfy essential technical, economic and environmental criteria and achieve a relevant priority.
	The Act also includes provisions for the safety of navigation. Sections 34 and 35 refer to consents to undertake a broad range of marine works in the sea around the coasts of England and Wales. Defra is responsible for administering these provisions on behalf of the Secretary of State. Defra expects to make proposals for improving the regime for regulating works at sea, of which these controls are a component, in a Marine Bill to be introduced later in this Parliament.

Common Agricultural Policy

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what baseline figures she is using for assessing progress on her Department's targets to (a) deliver step-change improvements to the way common agricultural policy schemes are administered, (b) rationalise delivery programmes, (c) implement the Modernising Rural Delivery plan, (d) implement the England Rural Development ICT programme, (e) implement the EA Efficiency programme, (f) generate efficiencies in flood defence provision in the Environment Agency, (g) place a greater emphasis on the provision of online services in the Environment Agency, (h) make back-office improvements at the Environment Agency, (i) streamline policy-making, (j) rationalise back-office functions in her Department, (k) improve procurement and (l) work with local authorities to deliver efficiency gains on waste services; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets.

Jim Knight: The response is set out in the following table. Baseline figures are provided at programme level where available, although these are mostly held in detail at project level with efficiencies reported through local governance processes. Stated efficiency savings are as reported to OGC in January 2006, at which time quarter 3 information from Executive agencies and non departmental public bodies had yet to be approved by their management boards.
	
		
			 Programme Quarter Efficiency savings delivery by end Baseline Target efficiency saving SR04 Efficiency savings reported 
		
		
			 Total for DEFRA Efficiency Programme  
			 £ million 2 2005–06 3,416 610 141 
			 Headcount (FTE(1)) 3 2005–06 13,650 2,400 1,016  
			 (a) Deliver step-change improvements to the way common agricultural policy schemes are administered 
			 £ million 2 2005–06 157,230 32 0 
			 Headcount (FTE(1)) 3 2005–06 3,953 1,400 876  
			 (b) Rationalise delivery programmes (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 (c) Implement the Modernising Rural Delivery Plan  
			 £ million 2 2005–06 (3)— 13 0 
			 Headcount (FTE(1)) n/a n/a (3)— 0 0  
			 (d) Implement the England Rural Development ICT Programme  
			 £ million 4 2004–05 (4)— 21 7.6 
			 Headcount (FTE(1)) 3 2004–05 (5)— 150 0  
			 (e) Implement the Environment Agency's Efficiency Programme  
			 £ million 2 2005–06 (6)— 106.2 47.2  
			 (f) Generate efficiencies in flood defence provision in the Environment Agency   
			 £ million 2 2005–06 (7)— 53 21  
			 (g) Place a greater emphasis on the provision of online services in the Environment Agency 
			 £ million 2 2005–06 (7)— 10.5 2.2  
			 (h) Make back-office improvements at the Environment Agency  
			 £ million 2 2005–06 (7)— 19.4 12.4  
			 (i) Streamline policy-making  
			 £ million 3 2005–06 121.9 10 0 
			 Headcount (FTE(1)) 3 2005–06 2,761 327 3  
			 (j) Rationalise back-office functions in her Department  
			 £ million — — 23 6.6 34 
			 Headcount (FTE(1)) — — 680 254 126  
			 (k) Improve procurement  
			 £ million 2 2005–06 (7)— 41 (8)8.9  
			 (l) Work with local authorities to deliver efficient gains on waste services  
			 £ million — 2004–05 (9)— 299 54.3 
		
	
	(1) Full-time equivalent.
	(2) No other delivery programmes within DEFRA efficiency portfolio.
	(3) 2004–05 resource figures set out in DEFRA's Annual Report 2005 for Natural Resources and Rural Affairs (NRRA) Directorate General, and the Rural Development Service (RDS); and in the 2004–05 corporate plans of the Countryside Agency and English Nature.
	(4) Productivity savings measured annually against a calculation of time taken to process number of applications received using previous methods.
	(5) Staff complement in 2005–06 RAE.
	(6) 2004–05 expenditure.
	(7) Determined in detail at project level.
	(8) Plus 6.5 non-sustainable in 2004–05.
	(9) Defined by local authorities previous year spend. Data reported on Annual Efficiency Statements.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles of permissible bridleways exist under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme; how she expects this figure to alter by the end of the scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Presently, there are just under 1,100 miles of permissive bridleways in existence under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS). The CSS closed to new applications in March 2004; therefore the number of bridleways under CSS should not increase in the future.
	It is too early to obtain meaningful data on the uptake of bridleways under the new Environmental Stewardship scheme, as the first Higher Level Stewardship agreements have only recently started.

Fly-tipping

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) incidents of fly-tipping were reported and (b) prosecutions were made following such incidents in (i) Cambridgeshire and (ii) Peterborough constituency in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra has worked with the Environment Agency to establish a national database on fly-tipping (Flycapture) which has been operational since April 2004. No national data were previously available on illegal waste disposal or fly-tipping. Flycapture collects data at local authority level only.
	It is important to note that the data are probably an underestimate and will increase as authorities get better at collecting and reporting the data.
	Peterborough city council reported 3,515 incidents of fly-tipping between April 2004 and March 2005 (average of 293 per month) and 5,828 between April 2005 and January 2006 (average 583 per month). During the same time periods all Cambridgeshire authorities reported 8,037 (average of 690 per month) and 9,883 (average of 988 per month) respectively.
	No prosecutions have been reported to Flycapture.
	
		
			  April 2004 to March 2005 April 2005 to January 2006 
			 Authority Returns made Number of incidents Monthly average Returns made Number of incidents Monthly average 
		
		
			 Cambridge City 12 997 83.1 10 1,093 109.3 
			 East Cambridgeshire 11 667 60.6 10 534 53.4 
			 Fenland 11 1,337 121.5 10 1,573 157.3 
			 Huntingdonshire 12 852 71.0 10 406 40.6 
			 Peterborough 12 3,515 292.9 10 5,828 582.8 
			 South Cambridgeshire 11 669 60.8 10 449 44.9 
			 Cambridgeshire total — 8,037 690 — 9,883 988.3

GM Crops

Gavin Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which institution carried out each piece of research commissioned by her Department into the effectiveness and reliability of varietal genetic use restriction technologies (V-GURTS); what the expected duration of the work was in each case; and if she will place a copy of the report of each project in the Library.

Elliot Morley: My Department has not commissioned research specifically on this issue. Reading university was however asked to undertake a desk study to review and assess effective current and practical, as well as timely and potentially viable, technologies aimed at reducing the dispersal of transgenes into the environment from GM and non-GM crops. The study was undertaken from June to November 2005 and aimed to review all aspects of technologies for biological containment of GM and non-GM crop plants, including evaluation of industrial research effort in this area. The report is currently being peer-reviewed and will be published on Defra's website. I shall place a copy in the Library when it is published.

Night Noise Levels

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action her Department is taking to reduce noise levels at night.

Ben Bradshaw: The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 extends the night noise provisions in the Noise Act 1996 to licensed premises. Local authorities will be able to fine those responsible for excess noise from licensed premises between 11 pm and 7 am. Those found responsible for exceeding the permitted level of noise will be liable to a fine of up to £5,000 upon summary conviction. A local authority will be able to offer the responsible person the option to discharge liability to conviction with the payment of a fixed penalty notice of £500 within 14 days. It is planned to bring these provisions into force in the autumn. They will complement the power to close licensed premises on noise grounds introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.
	The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 also gives local authorities new powers to designate alarm notification areas in which it will be a requirement for those with intruder alarms to register key-holder details with the local authority. Local authorities will be able to contact key-holders in the event that an alarm sounding for 20 minutes continuously or one hour intermittently causes annoyance to those in the vicinity. Local authorities will also be able to enter premises without force, where possible, to deactivate an alarm, and to obtain a warrant to force entry where this is not possible. Silencing misfiring intruder alarms as quickly as possible is particularly important at night. These new powers, which will be commenced in April, are additional to the existing statutory nuisance powers under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
	The Government is also taking steps to reduce environmental noise at night. The Department for Transport has responsibility for controlling aircraft noise at night at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports. Restrictions, comprising a movements limit and supplementary noise controls, are set on a seasonal basis for a 5–6 year period. The Department has recently consulted on a night restrictions regime to apply from October 2006 at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
	At regional airports noise restrictions are set by the Airport Operator, in accordance with any planning conditions which may apply.

Planning Guidance PG5/2 (04)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations her Department has received from industry bodies on PG5/2(04) in the last three years; and if she will place copies in the Library.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has been in regular dialogue with organisations representing the cremation sector throughout the last three years concerning regulation of air pollution from crematoria and PG5/2(04). This has included meetings, telephone discussions, and many exchanges of correspondence with representatives of the National Federation of Cremation Authorities, Institute of Cemetery and Cremation Management, National Association of Funeral Directors, and the Cremation Society. A particular focus of the dialogue has been action to reduce mercury emissions from crematoria. We issued two consultation papers on this subject which can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria-two/index.htm and http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria/index.htm
	I am placing a copy of the representations received in response to the consultation undertaken by the Department as part of finalising statutory guidance note PG5/2(04). The responses to the two consultation papers can be found at the above-mentioned web addresses.

Rats

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2005, Official Report, column 1644W, on rats, if she will place in the Library a copy of the relevant section of the English house condition survey.

Jim Knight: Copies of both the 1996 and 2001 English House Condition Surveys are already available on the ODPM website at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1155278

Recycling

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the national targets are for recycling (a) household waste and (b) corporate waste over the next five years.

Ben Bradshaw: In Waste Strategy 2000, published in May of that year, the Government set national targets to recycle or compost:
	25 per cent. of household waste by 2005
	30 per cent. of household waste by 2010
	33 per cent. of household waste by 2015.
	There are currently no national recycling targets for corporate waste. Waste Strategy 2000 was reviewed in 2005 and a report published on 14 February 2006. This report forms the basis of a public consultation document and following that consultation a revised strategy is due to be published late in 2006; this may include recycling targets for corporate waste.

Recycling

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to encourage recycling.

Ben Bradshaw: In addition to setting national targets to recycle household waste, all local authorities in England have been set statutory recycling targets Waste disposal authorities have also been set landfill diversion targets for biodegradable municipal waste which will drive them to maximise the recycling of this material.
	The Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 requires waste collection authorities to provide separate collection of at least two recyclates to all households receiving a general waste collection by 2010.
	Funding for establishing recycling infrastructure has been provided, initially through the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund (£294 million) and now the Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant (£260 million).
	Having established markets for recycled materials the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) now has additional roles in encouraging recycling. Since 2002,1ocal authorities have been provided targeted support and advice and it has established the Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team to spread best practice on recyclate collection methodologies.
	This is the third year of WRAP's £30 million three-year waste awareness raising programme; this included a national campaign and advertising local authority initiatives. Work continues on WRAP's £1.45 million research project with Tesco, Sainsbury and local authorities to pilot upgraded supermarket bring banks and undertake an evaluation of their impact on householder behaviour and recycling rates.
	The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) oblige businesses in the packaging chain to recycle a specified amount of packaging waste.
	A voluntary agreement is being negotiated with the construction and demolition industries to raise their use of recycled materials and the amount of construction material they recycle. Voluntary agreements are in place with the Newspaper Publishers Association that will increase the recycled content of newsprint to 70 per cent. in 2006. The Government are negotiating a similar agreement with the Periodical Publishers Association to increase the recycling of magazines.
	To help improve the economics of recycling as well as better reflect the true environmental impact of landfill, the Government have committed to an annual increase on landfill tax of at least £3/t until it reaches £35/t.

Recycling

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the proportion of landfill waste which was recyclable in each of the past five years.

Ben Bradshaw: Below are estimates for the recyclable proportion of municipal waste sent to landfill in England in the past five years:
	
		Percentage
		
			  Proportion of municipal waste landfilled that is recyclable 
		
		
			 2000–01 71 
			 2001–02 71 
			 2002–03 70 
			 2003–04 69 
			 2004–05 (10)68 
		
	
	(10) Estimate based on household waste management figures.
	These estimates assume that about 75 per cent. of all municipal waste could reasonably be recycled, with the best infrastructure and schemes in place, and total participation in those schemes. This figure of 75 per cent. is derived from compositional studies of our waste, and is supported by best practice in Europe. These figures cover municipal waste only, and work to assess the recyclable proportion of other waste streams is currently in progress through the Department's research programme.

Street Cleaning

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance her Department makes available to local authorities with regard to street cleaning.

Ben Bradshaw: This Department has developed several forms of guidance to local authorities in relation to street cleansing services. Guidance covering sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, relating to street cleaning will be issued to all local authorities in March of this year. A revised Code of Practice for Litter and Refuse will be issued at the same time. Defra produced a document titled 'Achieving improvements in street cleansing and related services', which was sent to all local authorities in November 2005. Further practical guidance on street cleaning services and enforcement will be available through an updated and enlarged 'Knowledge Bank' CD which has been developed in partnership with EnCams, the environmental charity. This will be available from April this year.
	Further information and guidance is available at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/index.htm

Supermarkets (Packaging)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce legislation (a) limiting the amount of packaging that can be used for products sold in supermarkets and (b) to require supermarkets to use easily recyclable packaging.

Ben Bradshaw: We have no plans to introduce further legislation on packaging.
	There are two sets of Regulations which cover packaging in the UK and which encourage businesses (including supermarkets) to minimise packaging and to manufacture packaging which can be recycled.
	The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 (as amended) include a requirement that packaging should be manufactured so that the volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer. These Regulations also require that
	packaging . . . be designed, produced and commercialised . . . to permit its . . . recovery, including recycling, and to minimise its impact on the environment . . .".
	The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005 are intended to increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. Because the amount of packaging waste recycling businesses have to do is determined, in part, by the amount of packaging they handle, they can cut costs if they reduce the packaging used around their products.
	Legislation is one way of reducing packaging, but consumers have a part to play. For example, if consumers made a point of choosing goods that are not heavily packaged, or bought 'loose' food rather than pre-packaged, or used their own shopping bags or boxes, manufacturers might be encouraged to reduce the quantity of packaging on their products.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what the estimated level of waste in the Thames Gateway is for (a) 2006, (b) 2010, (c) 2015, (d) 2020 and (e) 2025; what the estimated available capacity is for each year; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate the Government have made of the likely additional waste arising from population expansion and building programmes in the Thames Gateway.

Ben Bradshaw: Estimates of the type sought are not normally made or held by Government. National policy set out in Planning Policy Statement 10 Planning for Sustainable Waste Management" expects regional planning bodies to prepare regional spatial strategies which aim to provide sufficient opportunities to meet the identified needs of their areas for waste management for all waste streams. In turn, planning authorities are expected to prepare local development documents that reflect their contribution to delivering the regional spatial strategy. At the regional level, regional technical advisory bodies support the work of regional planning bodies and have a key role in assembling data and information on waste including from the Environment Agency.
	The ODPM published in December 2005 a sustainability study that assessed across England the environmental, social and economic impacts of additional housing growth scenarios developed in response to the findings of the Barker Review. This study considered the implications for waste management but did not focus down to specific growth areas.

Water Leakage Rates

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the leakage rates were for each water company in the latest period for which figures are available.

Elliot Morley: The Director General of Water Services publishes leakage figures annually in the Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water" reports. Total water company leakage for 2004–05, in megalitres per day, was reported as follows:
	
		
			  Megalitres per day 
		
		
			 Anglian 214 
			 Bournemouth and W. Hants 22 
			 Bristol 53 
			 Cambridge 14 
			 Dee Valley 11 
			 Dwr Cymru 226 
			 Folkestone and Dover 8 
			 Mid Kent 29 
			 Northumbrian North 155 
			 Northumbrian South 67 
			 Portsmouth 30 
			 Severn Trent 502 
			 South East 69 
			 South Staffordshire 74 
			 South West 83 
			 Southern 92 
			 Sutton and East Surrey 24 
			 Tendring Hundred 5 
			 Thames 915 
			 Three Valleys 149 
			 United Utilities 500 
			 Wessex 73 
			 Yorkshire 293

Water Leakage Rates

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in each water company's leakage rate in the last five years.

Elliot Morley: The Director General of Water Services publishes leakage figures annually in the Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water" reports. Total water company leakage for 2000–01 and 2004–05 and the difference in these figures, in megalitres per day, was reported as follows:
	
		Megalitres per day
		
			  2000–01 2004–05 Change 
		
		
			 Anglian(11) 194 214 +20 
			 Bournemouth and W. Hants 23 22 -1 
			 Bristol 55 53 -2 
			 Cambridge 13 14 +1 
			 Dee Valley 12 11 -1 
			 Dwr Cymru 260 226 -34 
			 Folkestone and Dover 9 8 -1 
			 Mid Kent 29 29 0 
			 Northumbrian North 164 155 -9 
			 Northumbrian South 72 67 -5 
			 Portsmouth 30 30 0 
			 Severn Trent(12) 340 502 +162 
			 South East 85 69 -16 
			 South Staffordshire 72 74 +2 
			 South West 84 83 -1 
			 Southern 92 92 0 
			 Sutton and East Surrey 24 24 0 
			 Tendring Hundred 6 5 -1 
			 Thames 688 915 +227 
			 Three Valleys 140 149 +9 
			 United Utilities 463 500 +37 
			 Wessex 84 73 -11 
			 Yorkshire 304 293 -11 
		
	
	(11) In 2003–04, Anglian Water calculated leakage using 2001 census population data for the first time. If the 2000–01 leakage figure was calculated using the same population data as used from 2003–04, leakage would follow a stable trend.
	(12) In spring 2003 Severn Trent Water revised its water balance data. The company attributed most of the increase in leakage to methodological changes.

Water Purification

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has commissioned into methods of purifying water; and what conclusions she has drawn from the research.

Elliot Morley: The most relevant area of publicly funded research is the Drinking Water Quality and Health Research programme, managed by the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Such research can provide credible and authoritative information and help to ensure that regulations and standards for water quality provide adequate safeguards. Much of this programme touches upon issues related to water purification and summaries of all the reports can be found on the Foundation for Water Research website at www.fwr.org.
	Treatment of the public water supply is an issue for the water companies themselves, although the Research Councils and the European Union's Framework research programmes contribute significant funding to the development of new technologies. Consequently, Defra does not normally fund research into water treatment technologies for drinking water, unless the research is needed to inform new regulations, or where there may be a perceived risk to health.
	One example of research that includes methods of purifying water derived from private sources, is the production of the Manual on treatment for small water supplies systems". This was produced to help local authorities to discharge their statutory duties and functions relating to private water supplies.

Water Supply (Kent)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of water (a) provision and (b) usage in Kent for 2006 to 2017; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 2 March 2006
	Kent is supplied by a number of water companies: Mid Kent Water; Thames Water; Folkestone and Dover Water Services; South East Water, and Southern Water Services.
	In common with the other water companies in England and Wales, these companies maintain 25 year water resource plans which seek to reconcile supply with anticipated demand. These water resource plans are produced voluntarily every five years at present but will become a statutory requirement under the provisions of the Water Act 2003.

Water System (New Housing)

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the new (a) reservoirs, (b) treatment plants and (c) sewerage systems that might be needed to accommodate proposals for new house building up to 2016.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 6 March 2006
	Water companies are already factoring new house building into their water resources plans, using projections from ODPM and local authorities. Ofwat has already assumed in its current price limits that almost 1 million new properties will be connected to the water and sewerage service by 2010.
	To fulfil their duty to maintain adequate supplies of water, several water companies propose to enlarge existing reservoirs (three in total) or construct new ones (five in total). These proposals are set out in the 25 year water resources plans they prepared in 2004. The Environment Agency has advised Ministers about the appropriateness of these proposals and other measures to ensure security of supply in its report Maintaining water supply", which was published in July 2004.
	Planning for new sewerage systems should be carried out in close and transparent co-operation between planners and water and sewerage companies. The provision of water and sewerage services are key factors in ensuring the sustainability of new housing developments. New sewers are usually laid by developers or requisitioned from the water and sewerage companies.

TREASURY

Business Productivity (Coventry, South)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the productivity of business in Coventry South.

John Healey: Official productivity statistics are published at the national level and Government Office level. Therefore data on the productivity performance of business in the Coventry, South constituency is not available.
	At the regional level, the West Midlands has improved relative to the UK average. Between 1996 and 2004, the region enjoyed the fastest increase in productivity of all the regions relative to the UK average.
	Data on the Coventry, South constituency shows that since 1997, claimant count unemployment has fallen by over 35 per cent. long-term unemployment has fallen by 92 per cent. and long term youth unemployment has fallen by over 66 per cent. Available statistics on employment show that employment has risen by over 25 per cent. since 1999 in the Coventry, South constituency.

Departmental Contracts

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many members of staff employed by his Department are on temporary contracts.

John Healey: HM Treasury currently has 18 staff on temporary contracts. These staff are engaged from Agencies to fill short-term gaps in cases of sickness or unplanned leave taken by permanent staff.

Life Expectancy

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average life expectancy is for people in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 8 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding the average life expectancy for people in (a) England; (b) Scotland; (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. I am replying in her absence. (56418)
	The table shows life expectancies at birth for males and females for the four countries requested. These are 'period' expectation of life figures, which are calculated from the mortality rates actually experienced in the years 2002 to 2004. They do not allow for possible changes in mortality in future years.
	
		Period expectation of life at birth by country 2002–04 -- Years
		
			  Males Females 
		
		
			 England 76.6 80.9 
			 Scotland 73.8 79.1 
			 Wales 76.0 80.4 
			 Northern Ireland 75.8 80.6 
		
	
	Source:
	Interim Life Tables 2002–04, http://www.gad.gov.uk/Life_Tables/Interim_life_tables.htm
	'Cohort' life expectancy figures, which do allow for projected changes in mortality in later years, are available from the Government Actuary's Department's website at: http://www.gad.gov.uk/Life_Tables/Period_and_cohort_eol.htm

Office for National Statistics

Diane Abbott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether the relocation plans for the London site of the Office for National Statistics meet the requirements of the impact assessment conducted under the terms of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000;
	(2)  what funds have been allocated by the Department for (a) redundancy, (b) relocation, (c) recruitment, (d) training and (e) travel costs in connection with the relocation of Office for National Statistics London-based staff;
	(3)  whether options to retain skilled London-based staff were considered when deciding on the relocation of staff from the Office for National Statistics;
	(4)  how much the Office for National Statistics has spent on modernisation in the last five years; and what assessment has been made of the impact of such modernisation;
	(5)  what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of people it requires to deliver key outcomes in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007; and at what (i) grades, (ii) salary and (iii) sites.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Dennis Roberts, dated 8 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to respond to your recent Parliamentary Questions on the relocation and modernisation plans of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). I am replying in her absence (56507, 56508, 56509, 56510 and 56511).
	(56507)—To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the relocation plans for the London site of the Office for National Statistics meet the requirements of the impact assessment conducted under the terms of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.
	ONS carried out a Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA) on the proposed relocation prior to the final decision being taken. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has confirmed that it welcomes the actions that have been taken by ONS with regard to the General Statutory Duty under s.71(1) of the Race relations Act 1976, as amended, in respect of employees who will relocate to Newport and Titchfield. CRE has asked ONS to consider whether there need to be further specific measures in place to support ethnic minority staff who choose not to relocate. ONS is currently consulting its Trade Unions and Diversity Groups on these issues.
	(56508)—To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funds have been allocated by the Department for (a) redundancy, (b) relocation, (c) recruitment, (d) training and (e) travel costs in relation to the relocation of Office for National Statistics London-based staff.
	Appropriate funds are being held within ONS budgets for all of these purposes. These funds are not measured separately and are held within a number of operating budgets as part of the ONS spending baseline. However, ONS received agreement from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to provide up to £5 million of extra funding in each of the next two years to match funding already provided for by ONS. This was mainly provided in recognition of the fact that ONS needed to reduce staff numbers quicker than could be achieved through natural wastage in order to deliver the efficiency savings we have identified.
	(56509)—To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether options to retain skilled London-based staff were considered when deciding on the relocation of staff from the Office for National Statistics.
	ONS aims to meet targets for relocation in a way that protects our ability to deliver our business and achieves cost savings in order to fund future work. We are providing assistance to staff who wish to relocate. Where staff choose not to relocate we are helping them to move into other skilled roles, often elsewhere within ONS or within Government. Where specific skills are key to the continuity of ONS business, we aim to retain those skills in London until such time as we can replace them on our Newport or Titchfield sites.
	(56510)—To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Office for National Statistics has spent on modernisation in the last five years; and what assessment has been made of the impact of such modernisation.
	ONS has spend £54.5 million on the Statistical and Technical Modernisation Programme begun three years ago. The Programme has delivered a working prototype for a new statistical database, re-engineered methods and business processes for key statistical systems, new standardised tools and software and a modernised IT infrastructure.
	(56511)—To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of people it requires to deliver key outcomes in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007; and at what (i) grades, (ii) salary and (iii) sites.
	As indicated in our Departmental Report 2005, the planned number of full time equivalent persons to be employed by ONS in future years is:
	1st April 2006—4310
	1st April 2007—4000
	1st April 2008—3610
	Machinery of government changes, since publication of the Departmental Report 2005, are expected to result in some small upward revisions to these figures.
	
		Estimated full time equivalent persons by site:
		
			  1 April: 
			 Site 2006 2007 
		
		
			 London 770 525–575 
			 Newport 1,275 1,350–1,375 
			 Titchfield 725 750–775 
			 Southport 840 650–700 
			 Field(13) 700 700 
		
	
	(13) Estimate.
	All civil service and senior civil service grades will be represented at a range of salaries. Business areas are currently working out the detail in light of confirmed budget allocations and targets.

Population (Gloucestershire)

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the population of (a) each Gloucestershire district and (b) each ward in the Stroud district was according to (i) figures from the 2001 census, (ii) most recent electoral rolls and (iii) most recent figures for health services users; and what projections he has made for the next five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 8 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding the population of (a) each Gloucestershire District and (b) each ward in the Stroud district according to (i) figures from the 2001 Census, (ii) most recent electoral rolls, and (iii) most recent figures for health service users; and what projections have been made for the next five years. I am replying in her absence. (55426)
	The tables attached provide the information you have requested. Data for Gloucestershire Districts are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Data for wards in Stroud district are shown in Table 3.
	ONS publishes annual mid-year population estimates. The latest estimates are for mid-2004 and are given in Table 1. These mid-year population estimates are the best estimates of the resident population in an area. They are based on Census data taking into account ageing of the population and are adjusted for births, deaths, and net migration. Further information on the methodology can be found at: www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=575.
	Population projections for each district in Gloucestershire, for mid-2005 to mid-2011, are also given in Table 1. These projections are based on the mid-2003 population estimates and are the latest population projections available. They assume that trends in fertility, mortality and migration at the time of the mid-2003 population estimate will continue into the future.
	Electoral rolls provide counts of the number of people registered to vote. Local/European electorate and Parliamentary electorate counts for districts in Gloucestershire can be found in Table 2. The 2004 figures are given for comparison with population estimates and the 2005 figures are the latest available data. It should be noted that the number of people eligible to vote is not the same as the resident population aged 18 and over. There are a number of reasons for this. For example not everyone who is usually resident is entitled to vote (foreign citizens from outside of the EU and Commonwealth, prisoners, etc. are not eligible), some people do not register to vote and people who have more than one address may register in more than one place.
	Further, there is inevitably some double counting of the registered electorate as electoral registration officers vary in how quickly they remove people from the registers after they have moved away from an area or after they have died. These factors have a differential impact from area to area.
	The number of people registered with a GP, living in each district in Gloucestershire, in July 2004, can also be found in Table 2. It should also be noted that patient register counts differ from estimates of the usually resident population for a number of reasons.
	Patient registers include people who are in the country for at least three months, whereas population estimates are based on a usual residence definition requiring a stay of 12 months or more. The patient registers exclude individuals who are ineligible to be registered with a GP. People may be on a patient register after having left the country and not deregistered with their GP; similarly people may have moved to another area and not re-registered. Some patients may have more than one NHS number e.g. they may have been issued a temporary number for a short period. Again, these factors have a differential impact from place to place.
	Ward data are shown in Table 3; the points set out above also apply to wards. However, there are some further points to note for wards.
	The most recent population estimates for wards are for mid-2002. The closest available geography to current electoral wards, for which population estimates are available, is Census Area Statistics (CAS) wards. This geography was created for outputs from the 2001 Census and is based mainly on 2003 electoral wards. The CAS ward level population estimates have been published with the status of experimental statistics". Therefore, the estimates, and figures derived from them, should be treated with some care. The margin of confidence for population estimates is proportionately larger at ward level than at local authority level.
	The ONS does not produce projections of population at ward level.
	Table 3 contains CAS ward electorate counts for December 2002 and 2004 as well as patient register figures for July 2002 and July 2004. The 2002 figures are given for comparison with population estimates and 2004 are the latest available data.
	Finally, the local government electorate is definitionally closer to the population estimates; however these data are not available at ward level. Hence, the Parliamentary electorate is shown.
	
		Table 1: Mid-2004 Population Estimates and mid-2005 to mid-2011 Population Projections (2003-based) -- Thousand
		
			  Population Estimate Population Projections(14) 
			  Mid-2004 Mid-2005 Mid-2006 Mid-2007 Mid-2008 Mid-2009 Mid-2010 
		
		
			 Cheltenham 110.9 110.6 110.9 111.2 111.5 111.8 112.2 
			 Cotswold 82.7 82.8 83.3 83.8 84.3 84.8 85.3 
			 Forest of Dean 80.7 81.0 81.4 81.9 82.4 82.9 83.4 
			 Gloucester 110.8 111.4 112.1 112.7 113.4 114.0 114.7 
			 Stroud 109.5 109.9 110.5 111.0 111.6 112.1 112.7 
			 Tewkesbury 78.2 78.9 79.6 80.2 80.8 81.4 82.0 
		
	
	(14) The population projections shown in this table are taken from the 2003-based subnational population projections, the latest set of projections currently available. Therefore they may not be consistent with the 2004 mid-year estimate presented in the first column.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics
	
		Table 2: Districts in Gloucestershire: Electorate counts and Patient Register counts
		
			  Local Government Electors(15) Parliamentary Electors(16) Local Government Electors(15) Parliamentary Electors(16) Patient Register July 2004 
			  1 December 2004 1 December 2004 1 December 2005 1 December 2005 July 2004 
		
		
			 Cheltenham 85,744 85,064 86,468 85,559 113,549 
			 Cotswold 64,891 64,512 64,348 63,968 84,022 
			 Forest of Dean 63,804 63,637 62,966 62,815 82,753 
			 Gloucester 82,528 82,141 84,484 83,953 115,888 
			 Stroud 86,692 86,136 85,432 84,909 113,893 
			 Tewkesbury 61,776 61,544 62,312 62,055 79,972 
		
	
	(15) Local government electors are those people who are entitled to vote in local elections and who meet the residence qualification. These include Peers and European citizens but exclude overseas voters.
	(16) Parliamentary electors are those people who are entitled to vote in parliamentary elections at Westminster and who meet the residence qualification. Those include overseas voters but exclude Peers and European citizens.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics
	
		Table 3: CAS Wards in Stroud District: Population Estimates, Electorate counts, and Patient Register counts
		
			 Ward Name Population Estimate Mid-2002 Electorate December 2002 Electorate December 2004 Patient Register July 2002 Patient Register July 2004 
		
		
			 Amberley and Woodchester 2,100 1,755 1,722 2,216 2,191 
			 Berkeley 4,100 3,338 3,320 4,115 4,156 
			 Bisley 2,100 1,756 1,774 2,067 2,099 
			 Cainscross 6,700 5,179 5,185 6,826 7,026 
			 Cam East 4,100 3,310 3,300 4,185 4,204 
			 Cam West 4,200 3,313 3,232 4,275 4,251 
			 Central 1,700 1,409 1,471 1,801 1,912 
			 Chalford 6,300 5,003 4,961 6,622 6,679 
			 Coaley and Uley 2,300 1,870 1,859 2,345 2,350 
			 Dursley 5,900 4,670 4,568 6,073 6,308 
			 Eastington and Standish 1,900 1,515 1,459 1,965 1,934 
			 Farmhill and Paganhill 2,200 1,738 1,738 2,266 2,290 
			 Hardwicke 4,700 3,651 3,742 4,725 4,896 
			 Kingswood 2,000 1,580 1,559 2,189 2,211 
			 Minchinhampton 4,000 3,410 3,429 4,383 4,497 
			 Nailsworth 6,100 4,907 4,936 6,518 6,589 
			 Over Stroud 1,800 1,427 1,451 1,811 1,845 
			 Painswick 4,000 3,420 3,467 4,281 4,398 
			 Rodborough 4,400 3,521 3,500 4,682 4,668 
			 Severn 4,500 3,591 3,672 4,622 4,789 
			 Slade 2,300 1,674 1,600 2,532 2,527 
			 Stonehouse 7,700 5,717 5,801 7,901 8,058 
			 The Stanleys 4,200 3,459 3,354 4,333 4,296 
			 Thrupp 2,300 1,810 1,786 2,402 2,428 
			 Trinity 2,200 1,625 1,551 2,108 2,051 
			 Uplands 2,100 1,759 1,720 2,235 2,244 
			 Upton St. Leonards 2,100 1,803 1,814 2,237 2,241 
			 Vale 1,700 1,443 1,484 1,829 1,893 
			 Valley 2,100 1,695 1,624 2,202 2,287 
			 Wotton-under-Edge 6,400 5,091 5,057 6,474 6,575 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The mid-2002 ward population estimates are consistent with the published mid-2002 local authority estimates (September 2004 revisions), and have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. The electorate counts are taken from the statutory RPF 29 returns.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Research and Development

Adam Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of nominal gross domestic expenditure on research and development was in each year since 1997 and how much of each sum was accounted for by (a) Government spending, (b) private spending and (c) overseas investment.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 8 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the level of nominal gross domestic expenditure on research and development was in each year since 1997 and how much of each sum was accounted for by (a) Government spending, (b) private spending and (c) overseas investment. I am replying in her absence. (54739)
	The attached table shows how research and development in the UK was funded, including from abroad and by EU programmes. Please note that the specified groups are made up of a number of sources as detailed. The period covered is 1997–2003; the 2004 data will be released 24th March.
	
		Sector funding, Research and Development in the UK, 1997–2003 -- £ million
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 In cash terms
			 Total 14,654 15,460 16,969 17,718 18,623 19,817 20,842 
			 Funded by:
			 Government 2,369 2,564 2,712 2,763 2,440 2,178 2,925 
			 Research Councils 1,156 1,139 1,211 1,317 1,512 1,713 1,947 
			 Higher Education Funding Councils 1,033 1,085 1,157 1,276 1,474 1,626 1,665 
			 Higher Education 123 130 143 158 177 196 199 
			 Total Government 4,681 4,918 5,223 5,514 5,603 5,713 6,736 
			 
			 Business Enterprise 7,275 7,331 8,137 8,559 8,740 9,138 9,139 
			 Private Non-Profit 578 621 701 815 888 963 931 
			 Total Private 7,853 7,952 8,838 9,374 9,628 10,101 10,070 
			 
			 Abroad(17) 2,119 2,590 2,908 2,830 3,392 4,003 4,035 
		
	
	(17) Funded by overseas inward investment and EU programmes

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

British Oil Consumption

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to reduce British oil consumption; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: As part of the Government's Climate Change Programme, various policies are in place to promote energy efficiency across the economy, including in the road transport sector where most oil is consumed. These include EU level voluntary agreements with car manufacturers on the fuel efficiency of new cars and company car tax rules. In addition, the Government recently announced the creation of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) to introduce renewable fuels into the transport system. The RTFO announcement said that, by 2010, oil companies would be obliged to ensure that 5 per cent. of the fuel that they sell is made from renewable bio-sources.

Gas/Electricity Suppliers

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which companies in the UK are registered suppliers of (a) gas and (b) electricity.

Malcolm Wicks: A list of those companies holding electricity and/or gas supply licences can be found on the Ofgem website at the following links:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/14111_external_gas_list.pdf
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/13892_extemal_electricity_list.pdf

National Institute for Medical Research

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the relocation of the National Institute for Medical Research from Mill Hill to Euston on (a) the Institute's facilities for dealing with animals, (b) the Institute's ability to provide high level containment for dangerous pathogens and (c) the Institute's capability for dealing with the changing threats posed by emerging infections;
	(2)  what the original estimate was of the cost of moving the National Institute for Medical Research from Mill Hill to Euston; what the most recent estimate is of the cost of the relocation; and whether he plans to re-examine the question of relocation in the light of cost.

Barry Gardiner: The proposed move of the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) is a matter for the Medical Research Council (MRC). My noble Friend Lord Sainsbury of Turville has been briefed by MRC's Chief Executive, Professor Colin Blakemore, on MRC's plans for moving the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR). I have asked Professor Blakemore to write to the hon. Member.

Post Office Card Account

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from (a) Royal Mail, (b) Postwatch and (c) sub post offices in response to the Government's decision not to renew the Post Office Card Account contract after 2010.

Barry Gardiner: I have received representations from the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters.

Water Industry Act

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to amend the Water Industry Act 1991 to prevent water companies from charging surface water drainage charges to those who do not receive the service.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	This subject is dealt with by guidance under the Water Industry Act 1991.
	The Secretary of State has issued guidance that customers should broadly only pay for the services received directly by them and their property. The Office of Water Services (Ofwat) requires companies to provide rebates to customers who can demonstrate that they are not connected for surface water drainage.
	In billing customers, the companies assume that they are connected for surface water drainage. Customers are usually better placed to identify where that is not the case and the onus is on them to do so.

Water Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his assessment is of the number of households that qualify for a rebate on their Surface Water Drainage Charge, but have not applied.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	No assessment has been made of the number of households that may be eligible for a surface water drainage rebate, but have not applied.
	The Government expect water companies to give surface water drainage rebates to qualifying customers whenever these are identified. However, companies do not have drainage records for every part of their area and some property owners and occupiers are unclear about how their properties are drained. It is up to customers to apply for a surface water drainage rebate.

TRANSPORT

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact on the (a) environment, (b) economy and (c) regeneration of Portsmouth of not progressing the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the cost-benefit analysis of not proceeding with the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme;
	(3)  what assessment has been made of the impact on the number of accidents on the A3 at Hindhead if the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme is not progressed.

Stephen Ladyman: Evidence covering these matters was submitted to the Public Inquiry into the published scheme orders for the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme. It would not be appropriate to comment on the evidence submitted to the public inquiry while the inspector's report and recommendations remain under consideration.

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he made of the south-east of England regional assembly's advice on the relative regional priority of the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme.

Stephen Ladyman: We are carefully reviewing the advice from the south-east region on its priorities for major transport schemes, including the proposed improvement of the A3 Hindhead scheme, and plan to announce our response later in the year.

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received (a) opposing and (b) supporting the approval of the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme; and what representations he has received on this matter from (i) individuals and (ii) organisations in Portsmouth North constituency.

Stephen Ladyman: Over 50 representations have been received between 1 January and 3 March 2006 which have been overwhelmingly in favour of the scheme. We have not analysed which constituency the representations have been made from.

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role the (a) South East England Development Agency, (b) South East England Regional Assembly, (c) Highways Agency, (d) Environment Agency and (e) local councils will have in plans for the A3 Improvement Scheme at Hindhead.

Stephen Ladyman: These bodies explained their role at the Public Inquiry and presented evidence to the Inspector accordingly. In addition, the South East Region (which includes the South East England Regional Assembly, the South East England Development Agency and the Government Office South East working with a wide range of partners and stakeholders) has recently provided advice to Government on the timing and funding of the A3 Improvement Scheme at Hindhead as part of its overall advice on priorities for major transport schemes. The Environment Agency is one of four statutory environmental bodies which advise Government on the environmental impacts of road improvements. Improvement schemes which are approved for funding would be developed and delivered by the Highways Agency.

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice the Department will take when considering the approval of the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme.

Stephen Ladyman: I am currently considering the Inspector's report and recommendations in relation to the published scheme orders for the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme. If new information that is relevant to the decision and that relates to a matter considered at the Public Inquiry comes to my attention, this will also be considered but all those involved in the Public Inquiry will be given the opportunity to make representations on that information. I have also recently received, and am carefully considering, the advice from the South East Region on the prioritisation of this scheme within the indicative funding allocation for major transport schemes in the South East.

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make the final decision on the affordability of the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme.

Stephen Ladyman: We are currently considering the Inspector's report into the A3 at Hindhead following the Public Inquiry which was held last year. We are also considering the advice from the South East Region on the priority it attaches to this scheme within the indicative funding allocation for major transport schemes in the South East. An announcement on the way forward will be made later in the year.

A3

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the earliest date is on which pre-works could commence on the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme if approval is granted.

Stephen Ladyman: If approval for the A3 Hindhead scheme is granted in spring 2006 then the earliest date on which pre-works could commence would be around the end of the year. However, the actual date would depend on the availability of funds.

Air Passengers (Compensation)

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many compensation payments have been made to UK air passengers under EU Regulation 261/2004 in each year since it was introduced.

Karen Buck: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The Air Transport Users Council collects data on the number of complaints it receives in connection with this regulation, but no central record is kept of the number of compensation payments made to UK air passengers, as these are generally dealt with directly between the airline and the passenger.

Air Passengers (Compensation)

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will seek amendments to EU Regulation 261/2004 to improve the payment of compensation to air passengers.

Karen Buck: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The European Commission is due to review the operation of the regulation and report back to the European Parliament and Council by 1 January 2007. The Department for Transport, in concert with the Civil Aviation Authority, is monitoring the situation and will carefully consider any recommendations for change made in the Commission's review.

Alternative Fuels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was allocated to research into alternative fuel options in each of the last seven years.

Stephen Ladyman: In the last three years the Department's research expenditure on the environmental performance of alternative fuels was as follows: £274,566 in 2003–04, £15,583 in 2004–05 and £54,500 in 2005–06. Details of research expenditure in previous years broken down by subject are not readily available.

Aviation Safety

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received regarding a safety alert at Nottingham East Midlands airport on 4 February.

Karen Buck: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The Secretary of State has received one written representation dated 2 March regarding an alleged incident at East Midlands airport on 4 February, and has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to investigate as a matter of urgency.

Aviation Safety

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority to discuss safety at (a) regional airports and (b) Nottingham East Midlands Airport.

Karen Buck: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The Secretary of State and the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority meet regularly, approximately every three months, to discuss matters of current interest, including any matters relevant to civil aviation safety. Officials within the Department have more frequent regular meetings with the Chairman and with the Authority's Group Director for Safety Regulation, and there is day-to-day contact as necessary on a range of safety matters. No significant safety issues regarding regional airports have been raised in these meetings or discussions.

Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what investigations are under way on a new access road for Canvey Island; which body is responsible for undertaking the investigations; and what the budget for the investigations is;
	(2)  what the (a) terms of reference and (b) anticipated times of completion are for each investigation into a possible new access road for Canvey Island.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 16 January 2006, Official Report, columns 930–31W.

Concessionary Transport

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from local authorities about the possibility of shortfalls in funding for statutory free bus travel for the elderly and disabled.

Karen Buck: The Government are providing an extra £350 million for 2006–07 which is sufficient to fund the cost to local authorities.
	Concessionary fares are funded through the formula grant system administered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Local authorities were fully consulted on the distribution of the new formula which takes account of factors that reflect support for disabled people and the needs of areas where take-up is likely to be highest.
	336 representations were received during the consultation period. The Government concluded, following careful consideration of the consultation responses, that the new formula was a fairer way to allocate the extra funding.

Correspondence

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will provide a substantive reply to Mr. Roger Jobson of Tuckenhay, Chairman of the Riparian and Mooring Rights Owners Group.

Derek Twigg: Mr. Roger Jobson wrote to Mr. Christopher Garnett, the Managing Director of GNER on 26 October 2005 about the booking of tickets from Darlington to Totnes, copying his letter to my right hon. Friend. The operation of the network is a matter for the train operating companies and I have been informed that GNER has now made contact with Mr. Jobson and report that his query has been resolved to his satisfaction.

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were employed by the (a) Driving Standards Agency, (b) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, (c) Highways Agency, (d) Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (e) Office of Rail Regulation, (f) Department for Transport, (g) Vehicle Certification Agency and (h) Vehicle and Operator Services in each region in each of the last 12 months for which data is available; and how many and what percentage of posts were vacant in each month.

Karen Buck: The figures requested are published in Civil Service Statistics. Departments should refer to table A which covers staff numbers (FTE and headcount basis) for each organisation. Civil service statistics are available in the Library and at the following address on the Cabinet Office Statistics website: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/index.asp
	The number of vacancies available within each Department/agency for the past 12 months can be found in the following table. These figures are based on the available data.
	
		Vacant posts for the last 12 months (by region where data available) -- 2005
		
			   Number of vacant posts and region 
			  Department/agency January February March April May June July 
		
		
			 DfT Central (London) 21 24 49 46 48 47 42 
			  Hastings 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 
			  Southampton 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 
			  Farnborough 7.5 8.5 8 6 7 8 6 
			  Bristol 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 DSA — (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 DVLA — (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			  Highways 24 96 182 46 133 107 89 
			 MCA Southampton 6.84 3.41 2.41 11.06 8.68 8.37 5.5 
			  Eastern 14.7 15.91 12.88 20.66 14.66 14.01 10.23 
			  Wales and Western 8.49 10.08 12.51 15.65 12.65 12.12 8.06 
			  Scotland and Nl 9.42 10.61 10.61 14.61 13.47 10.87 12.88 
			 VCA — 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 
			 VOSA — 39 22 30 25 23 27 39 
		
	
	
		2005
		
			   Number of vacant posts and region 
			  Department/agency August September October November December Comments 
		
		
			 DfT Central(London) 43 44 39 40 37 — 
			  Hastings 1 1 1 0 0 Post transferred from London 
			  Southampton 4 5 5 5 6 MAIB vacant posts 
			  Farnborough 6 5 3 2 2 AAIB vacant posts 
			  Bristol 0 1 2 1 1 DVO central directorate 
			 DSA — (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— — 
			 DVLA — (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— — 
			  Highways 121 33 98 26 18 No breakdown of posts by region available 
			 MCA Southampton 7.5 7.19 14.42 9.51 8.94 MCA figures based on FTE. 
			  Eastern 10.05 6.66 6.97 7.97 7.97  
			  Wales and Western 6.87 14.55 15.8 14.66 13.01  
			  Scotland and Nl 13.42 14.94 12.53 13.93 13.36  
			 VCA — 0 0 0 0 0 No breakdown of posts by region available 
			 VOSA — 301 32 35 27 33 No breakdown of posts by region available 
		
	
	(18) No information available.
	Note:
	These figures are based on available data as not all business units keep records of vacant posts. It is not possible to provide the information requested as percentages.

Grant Aid (Airports/Ports)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals for grant aid are being considered for (a) airports and (b) ports; whether clearance for any proposed grant aid (i) has been and (ii) is intended to be sought from the European Commission; how much grant aid is proposed; and for what purposes the grant aid is proposed.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department for Transport has no proposals to provide grant aid for ports or airports.

High-risk Marine Areas

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria were used by his Department to determine the marine areas for designation as marine environmental high risk areas.

Stephen Ladyman: In his report Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas" Lord Donaldson charged the Department for Transport and the then Department of the Environment with determining how to identify MEHRAs. The Department for Transport, Department of the Environment and now Defra have worked closely with Devolved Administrations and statutory nature conservation advisors to develop the process for identifying MEHRAs through a robust and objective methodology. This included a parallel assessment of pollution from shipping risk and environmental sensitivity. Other environmental protection measures already in place at each location were also taken into consideration.
	The assessment of Coastal Pollution risk involved five distinct processes:
	1. Hazard identification
	2. Establishing ship routeing in UK waters
	3. The assessment of accident frequency
	4. The assessment of oil pollution spill frequency
	5. The ranking of coastal pollution risk
	The approach taken to the assessment of the environmental sensitivity of each coastal cell was developed from the considerations outlined in Lord Donaldson's report 'Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas'. The classification of sites was however expanded considerably to include the following categories:
	Wildlife designations and sites;
	Vulnerability of seabirds to oil pollution at identified sites;
	Fishing data, including fish farms, shell-fishing areas etc;
	Amenity/Economy, represented by locations such as Blue Flag Beaches, Marinas and Country Parks;
	Landscape, including Heritage Coastal, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and
	Geological, including World Heritage Sites and Conservation Review Sites
	In accordance with this methodology, only those areas which scored highly both in terms of environmental sensitivity and in terms of risk from shipping qualified as MEHRAs. They represent approximately 9 per cent. of the UK coastline, which is consistent with Lord Donaldson's view that not more than 10 per cent. of the UK coastline should qualify as MEHRAs.

Light Rail Schemes

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish the guidance for promoters of light rail schemes referred to in the Treasury Minute in response to the Eleventh Report of 2004–05 from the Committee of Public Accounts.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The Department is working with UKTram, which brings together representatives of the light rail industry, on development of the draft guidance. We aim to publish it later this year.

Local Government Finance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding each local transport authority received in each year since 1997–98 (a) in total, (b) per mile of road and (c) per head of population.

Karen Buck: Table 1, which follows, shows the total funding allocated to local authorities in the local transport capital settlements between 1998–99 and 2005–06 (inclusive) in terms of totals, per mile of road and per head of population.
	The funding levels per mile and per head vary between local authorities for a number of reasons. The pressures to invest vary—for example the need to maintain roads, the level of casualties and the levels of bus use differ between areas in ways that are not directly proportionate to road length or population. Some figures are affected significantly by one-off major projects. The quality of local transport plans and their delivery also affects some capital funding allocations.
	Local transport capital funding allocations made to local authorities each year between 1997–98 and 2005–06 inclusive were placed in the Libraries of the House on 18 January 2006 and are also on the DfT website.
	
		Table 1: Funding totals, per mile and per head by local authority area
		
			 Local authority name Total 1998–99 to 2005–06 funding (£000) Road mileage Funds (£000) per mile Population 2004 (000) Funds (£ per head) 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire county and Luton borough councils 88,388 1,701 52 576.2 153 
			 Cambridgeshire county council 116,149 2,890 40 578.8 201 
			 Essex county council 180,168 5,059 36 1,330.4 135 
			 Hertfordshire county council 166,769 3,029 55 1,041.3 160 
			 Norfolk county council 183,194 6,233 29 816.5 224 
			 Peterborough city council 29,850 554 54 159.1 188 
			 Southend-on-Sea borough council 39,178 280 140 159.6 245 
			 Suffolk county council 135,007 4,246 32 683.7 197 
			 Thurrock borough council 25,890 358 72 145.7 178 
			 Derby city and Derbyshire county councils 149,385 3,969 38 979.2 153 
			 Leicester city and Leicestershire county councils 158,577 3,253 49 909.0 174 
			 Lincolnshire county council 115,735 5,315 22 673.5 172 
			 Northamptonshire county council 79,840 2,816 28 646.7 123 
			 Nottingham city and Nottinghamshire county councils 240,008 3,444 70 1,034.8 232 
			 Rutland council 8,794 335 26 36.5 241 
			 Darlington borough council 19,853 332 60 98.6 201 
			 Durham county council 106,985 2,234 48 496.8 215 
			 Hartlepool borough council 17,404 246 71 90.1 193 
			 Middlesbrough borough council 20,108 314 64 137.9 146 
			 Northumberland county council 93,276 3,129 30 310.8 300 
			 Redcar and Cleveland borough council 30,910 413 75 139.1 222 
			 Stockton-on-Tees borough council 47,885 497 96 186.2 257 
			 Tyne and Wear metropolitan county 321,208 2,675 120 1,085.6 296 
			 Blackburn with Darwen borough council 26,966 350 77 140.2 192 
			 Blackpool borough council 17,827 291 61 142.7 125 
			 Cheshire county council 138,413 3,209 43 680.0 204 
			 Cumbria county council 103,937 4,867 21 494.8 210 
			 Greater Manchester metropolitan county 778,092 5,628 138 2,539.0 306 
			 Halton borough council 37,956 348 109 118.9 319 
			 Lancashire county council 167,390 4,288 39 1,152.0 145 
			 Merseyside metropolitan county 334,797 3,069 109 1,365.8 245 
			 Warrington borough council 36,171 596 61 193.7 187 
			 Bracknell Forest borough council 12,122 278 44 110.3 110 
			 Brighton and Hove council 38,896 387 101 251.9 154 
			 Buckinghamshire county council 87,806 1,965 45 478.6 183 
			 East Sussex county council 73,378 2,107 35 496.7 148 
			 Hampshire county council 176,251 5,452 32 1,253.4 141 
			 Isle of Wight council 38,091 538 71 138.4 275 
			 Kent county council 239,412 5,668 42 1,359.2 176 
			 Medway council 68,017 511 133 251.1 271 
			 Milton Keynes council 22,076 727 30 216.7 102 
			 Oxfordshire county council 131,156 2,868 46 619.8 212 
			 Portsmouth city council 27,906 279 100 188.5 148 
			 Reading borough council 43,368 244 178 144.0 301 
			 Slough borough council 9,257 193 48 117.6 79 
			 Southampton city council 26,250 357 73 221.2 119 
			 Surrey county council 153,103 3,414 45 1,067.2 143 
			 West Berkshire council 21,607 851 25 144.9 149 
			 West Sussex county council 92,943 2,670 35 761.9 122 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead (Royal borough) 18,575 432 43 136.7 136 
			 Wokingham district council 16,941 445 38 152.2 111 
			 Bath and North East Somerset council 35,490 650 55 172.2 206 
			 Bournemouth and Poole borough councils 35,598 638 56 300.5 118 
			 Bristol city council 59,596 702 85 393.9 151 
			 Cornwall county council 111,626 4,525 25 515.3 217 
			 Devon county council 163,633 8,049 20 724.7 226 
			 Dorset county council 56,817 2,636 22 399.9 142 
			 Gloucestershire county council 104,494 3,367 31 572.8 182 
			 North Somerset council 27,267 688 40 193.0 141 
			 Plymouth city council 41,313 499 83 244.4 169 
			 Somerset county council 118,506 4,172 28 512.5 231 
			 South Gloucestershire council 73,336 938 78 247.5 296 
			 Swindon borough council 33,079 510 65 182.2 182 
			 Torbay council 17,861 317 56 132.5 135 
			 Wiltshire county council 101,143 2,920 35 444.6 227 
			 Herefordshire county council 54,692 2,076 26 177.8 308 
			 Shropshire county council 102,993 3,211 32 287.9 358 
			 Staffordshire county council 125,488 3,860 33 812.6 154 
			 Stoke-on-Trent city council 46,075 532 87 238.0 194 
			 Telford and Wrekin council 29,264 625 47 161.0 182 
			 Warwickshire county council 81,324 2,522 32 525.5 155 
			 West Midlands metropolitan county 603,175 4,763 127 2,579.2 234 
			 Worcestershire county council 83,338 2,538 33 552.0 151 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire council 59,978 2,136 28 324.8 185 
			 Kingston Upon Hull city council 50,863 458 111 248.5 205 
			 North East Lincolnshire council 36,505 389 94 157.7 231 
			 North Lincolnshire council 28,570 876 33 156.5 183 
			 North Yorkshire county council 147,350 5,746 26 579.9 254 
			 South Yorkshire metropolitan county 331,141 3,747 88 1,278.4 259 
			 West Yorkshire metropolitan county 434,430 5,952 73 2,108.0 206 
			 York city council 38,063 490 78 184.9 206 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are the total local transport capital allocations (in £000) made for 1998–99 to 2005–06. 1997–98 is not included as some councils' boundaries were changed, abolished or created between 1997–98 and 1998–99.
	2. London authorities and the Isles of Scilly council are not included as they are not included in the local transport plan system. The Greater London Authority makes transport capital allocations to London boroughs.
	3. Figures for metropolitan areas are county wide and relate to the sum of allocations made to district councils and passenger transport authorities.
	4. A few other councils have been combined as they produce joint transport plans.

M20

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Government plans to resurface the M20 between junctions 8 and 9 with a noise reducing surface; and why plans for the resurfacing have been delayed.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 6 March 2006
	As the surface of the M20 between junctions and 8 and 9 is currently in a satisfactory condition, resurfacing will not be required for at least the next five years. When resurfacing is carried out, a lower noise surface will be used.

Marine Environment

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving oil tankers have taken place in each of the last 20 years in (a) international and (b) UK waters.

Stephen Ladyman: The Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport only holds data related to accidents involving UK-flagged vessels anywhere in the world, and accidents involving ships of any flag in UK territorial waters (12-mile limit) from 1991 to date. The figures in the table are for all types of accident including groundings, collisions and contacts, founderings, as well as fires and explosions, machinery failures and persons overboard:
	
		Accidents reported to the MAIB involving Tankers/Combination carriers of 100 gross tons and over
		
			  Within UK territorial waters (12-mile limit) UK-flagged vessels outside UK territorial waters 
		
		
			 1991 20 1 
			 1992 23 1 
			 1993 16 1 
			 1994 18 1 
			 1995 22 2 
			 1996 38 4 
			 1997 29 5 
			 1998 17 3 
			 1999 25 2 
			 2000 23 4 
			 2001 15 2 
			 2002 18 3 
			 2003 22 5 
			 2004 23 8 
			 2005 30 6 
			 Total 339 48

Marine Environment

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment of (a) environmental importance, (b) incidence of marine accidents and (c) risk was undertaken before deciding whether the coastal waters around (i) Cornwall and (ii) the Isles of Scilly should be designated as marine environmental high risk areas.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 6 March 2006
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given him today (UIN 56551) on the criteria used to assess the location of Marine Environmental High Risk Areas (MEHRAs). These criteria included the key areas of environmental importance, accident frequency and pollution risk.
	In his report Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas" Lord Donaldson said the criteria should be set in such a way that not more than about a tenth of the UK coastline qualifies. Consequently, in accordance with this principle and the methodology, only those areas which scored highly both in terms of environmental sensitivity and in terms of risk from shipping qualified as MEHRAs.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the administration costs were of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The figures are only available from 1998–99 onwards and are taken from the published accounts.
	
		£000
		
			  Staff costs Establishment and accommodation costs Total 
		
		
			 2004–05 36,488 29,476 65,964 
			 2003–04 34,938 25,139 60,077 
			 2002–03 31,627 25,728 57,355 
			 2001–02 30,229 28,366 58,595 
			 2000–01 28,279 25,524 53,803 
			 1999–2000 26,290 25,926 52,216 
			 1998–99 25,646 20,133 45,779 
			 Total 213,497 170,504 384,001

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year since 1997; and what plans he has for staffing for the next three years.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is only available since 1998, when the MCA came into existence. Figures are shown as follows.
	
		
			  FTE 
		
		
			 1998 986 
			 1999 1000 
			 2000 1062 
			 2001 1024.5 
			 2002 1075.4 
			 2003 1117.5 
			 2004 1177.9 
			 2005 1171.7 
		
	
	Operational staffing figures for the next three years are anticipated to remain the same. There may be reductions following the move to a Department for Transport Shared Service Centre in October 2007.

Maritime Safety

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he has taken to improve maritime safety since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Since merchant shipping is an international activity, the UK plays a leading role in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and in the EU on a range of safety measures aimed at improving the safety of ships. These measures include:
	
		
			 Date Action taken 
		
		
			 1997 Introduction of the International and Domestic Safety Management Codes 
			 1999 Introduction of controls on the working hours of seafarers. 
			 2000 UK initiated action at IMO to increase the compensation limit for a shipping accident by 50 per cent. to £177 million 
			 2000 UK supported EU maritime measures on improved port state control and monitoring of classification societies. 
			 2000 UK supported the international Quality Shipping Campaign which led to the introduction of the EQUASIS on-line quality shipping database providing safety-related information on the world's merchant fleet. 
			 2001 Number of Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) in UK increased to four and on station all year round. 
			 2001 UK helped secure international agreement to accelerate the phase out of single hull oil tankers. 
			 2003 UK helped secure international agreement on a further acceleration in the phasing out of single hull oil tankers. 
			 2003 UK supported EU legislation on improved stability requirements for Ro-Ro ferries, harmonised seafarer training, and introduction of a vessel traffic monitoring and information system. 
			 2005 UK promoted the introduction of the IMO member state Audit Scheme to assist IMO member states' implementation and enforcement of IMO requirements. 
			 2005 UK Presidency began work on new directives on vessel traffic monitoring and port state control.

Oil Tankers

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of (a) the proportion of the global oil tanker fleet that is UK registered and (b) the number of oil tankers that have passed through UK waters in each quarter of each of the last 20 years.

Stephen Ladyman: (a) It is estimated that 1 per cent. of the global oil tanker fleet is UK registered.
	(b) The Government do not hold the information which has been requested.

Oil Tankers

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of future use of oil tankers.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has not made any assessment of future growth in the use of oil tankers, but their use can be expected to grow broadly in line with the growth in global economic activity.

Public Transport (Rural Areas)

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government are taking to improve the provision of public transport in rural areas.

Karen Buck: The Government are committed to improving public transport in rural areas. Local and central Government provide funding of £1.7 billion annually to support bus services, which provide the majority of local public transport services, including those in rural areas.
	We are expecting all local transport authorities to include accessibility strategies in their next Local Transport Plans, due to be submitted this month. These strategies should be based on evidence and analysis of the problems people face in accessing jobs and essential services and facilities. They should include consideration of the accessibility and availability of local public transport. Our guidance to authorities makes clear that the strategies should take account of the particular needs of rural communities.
	Since 1998 nearly £450 million has been allocated by this Department to local authorities specifically for the support of rural bus services. The main element of this is rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG) which now totals £53 million annually and which supports some 2,000 services.
	Last year we announced Kickstart" support, totalling £20 million, for 43 projects involving new and improved bus services which will become viable through growth in passenger numbers after an initial period of pump-priming from Government funds. 11 of these schemes will serve areas which are mainly rural in character.
	Demand-responsive, flexibly routed and community transport services have a particularly significant role to play in rural areas and we have encouraged their development. Many rural community transport services have since 2002 been eligible to receive the Department's bus service operators grant and regulations were introduced in 2004 to enable flexibly routed bus services to be registered with the Traffic Commissioner.

Renewable Energy

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money his Department has spent on research into the use of (a) cereal ethanol, (b) beet ethanol, (c) straw ethanol, (d) rape methyl ester, (e) wood ethanol, (f) wood methanol, (g) wood FT-diesel and (h) waste oil for hybrid fuel.

Stephen Ladyman: This Department has funded research in recent years into different aspects of biofuel production and use, but not detailed consideration of these individual biofuels. Our research has focused instead on the potential environmental and other impacts of significant use of biofuels in the longer term, and on the emissions consequences and economics of various bioethanol and biodiesel blends. We have also contributed to projects being managed by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership which are aiming to create the carbon and environmental assurance schemes to underpin the Renewable Transport Fuels obligation. Taken together, this Department's expenditure on this research amounts to a little under £200,000. Copies of the reports are available via the DfT website (and can be found by following the links to Roads, Roads and Vehicles, Vehicles, and Vehicles and the Environment).
	A number of other Government Departments (including the Department for Trade and Industry and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) have also funded research into aspects of biofuel production and use. The DTI-sponsored New and Renewable Energy Research and Development Programme, for example, has included a number of projects on the development of advanced production methods for biofuels. Defra has published various research reports on the environmental and other impacts of biofuel production in the UK. All of these reports are available via their respective websites.

Road Calming

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the relative merits of flash up speed signs in reducing (a) speed and (b) road traffic accidents compared with other road calming methods; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has not made any assessment of the merits of Speed Indicator Devices which display a vehicle's speed.
	In 2002 the Transport Research Laboratory published research into the effectiveness of vehicle activated signs (VAS), which show either the speed limit or a range of hazard warning signs. The study demonstrated that VAS are best used at the approaches to junctions and bends on rural roads.

Road Pricing

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential impact on urban congestion of a national road pricing scheme.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The Feasibility Study of Road Pricing in the UK (2004) estimated that a national road pricing scheme has the potential to reduce urban congestion by around half, from a reduction in urban traffic levels of only 3 to 4 per cent.

Road Projects

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria are used to reach a decision on whether to undertake road improvement projects; what account is taken when making such decisions of (a) economic criteria, (b) operational criteria, (c) numbers of fatalities and (d) general safety issues; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: All road improvement projects are assessed in relation to their impacts on the economy, safety, the environment, accessibility and integration with wider policies, as summarised in Appraisal Summary Tables which are produced for each scheme. The results contained in Appraisal Summary Tables are used to reach an assessment of a scheme's overall value for money in accordance with the Department's published Value for Money guidance.
	In addition to value for money, our decisions also take account of other factors such as: deliverability; affordability; the achievement of central Government, local and regional objectives; and the amelioration of identified problems.

Security (River Thames)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to improve the co-ordination of security on the Thames.

Stephen Ladyman: A security co-ordination group for the tidal River Thames known as the Thames Counter Terrorism Partnership (TCTP) was created in 2004. TCTP meets regularly and brings together key security stakeholders on the river including the Department, the Metropolitan, Kent, Essex and City of London Police Services, Immigration Service, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, HM Revenue and Customs and the Port of London Authority. TCTP has developed a risk register of vulnerable locations within the port and this has been used to support the revision and further development of security plans, tactics, communications and associated contingency plans.

Shipping Accidents

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many shipping accidents involving (a) collision, (b) grounding and (c) fire have occurred in (i) UK waters and (ii) the Pentland Firth in each of the last 20 years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport only hold data related to accidents in UK territorial waters (12 mile limit) from 1991 to date.
	
		(i) Accidents reported to MAIB recorded as occurring in UK territorial waters involving merchant vessels of 100 gross tons and over
		
			  (a) number of collisions (b) groundings (c) fires and explosions Others Total 
		
		
			 1991 42 33 21 59 155 
			 1992 26 48 15 49 138 
			 1993 25 36 13 73 147 
			 1994 19 28 11 65 123 
			 1995 19 43 11 93 166 
			 1996 33 48 24 130 235 
			 1997 33 64 20 104 221 
			 1998 22 50 17 92 181 
			 1999 19 34 20 96 169 
			 2000 23 23 9 95 150 
			 2001 19 31 13 74 137 
			 2002 18 20 19 83 140 
			 2003 15 28 15 92 150 
			 2004 15 29 18 93 155 
			 2005 28 46 18 126 218 
			 Total 356 561 244 1,324 2,485 
		
	
	(ii) The Pentland Firth has been defined by the limits of 58°38N to 58°48N and 002°55W to 003°25W. This area includes Dunnet Head, Duncansby Head, Brough Ness, and Tor Ness.
	
		(ii) Accidents reported to MAIB recorded as occurring in the Pentland Firth involving merchant vessels of 100 gross tonsand over
		
			  (b) groundings (c) fires and explosions Others Total 
		
		
			 1993 1 1 0 2 
			 2000 0 0 1 1 
			 2004 0 0 1 1 
			 Total 1 1 2 4

UK Waters (Traffic Density)

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will rank UK waters by traffic density.

Stephen Ladyman: No, this information is not collected in a format that would make such direct comparisons possible.

Urban Road Network

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 1061W, on the urban road network, what proportion of the total road network is covered by the 10 largest urban areas.

Stephen Ladyman: The latest available figures relate to 2004 when the length of the total road network in England was 297,779 km, of which 19.8 per cent. was covered by the 10 largest urban areas. Road lengths, by road class, for individual local highway authority areas are available on the Department for Transport website.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Accountable Stores

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the accountable stores lost as referred to on page 62 of her Department's resource accounts.

Bill Rammell: The majority of the losses referred to on page 62 of the resource accounts relate to the disposal of publications purchased with public funds and held at the Department's publications distributor. The Department has established a programme board to drive forward change within the Department in the way that it handles publications. The key aims of the programme are to improve stock control and through improved visibility and advice to ensure that owners of publications can actively manage both existing stock and future production.
	In 2004–05 there were 37 cases totalling £866,000 made up as follows:
	
		
			  Details of Loss Total number of cases  Amount (£) 
		
		
			 Publications distributor—waste stock 14 525,005.00 
			 Obsolete Careers information Stock 16 316,904.44 
			 School Workforce Unit waste, Teaching Assistant and staff induction 1 19,000.00 
			 Teachers Magazines 1 2,824.15 
			 Obsolete Aim Higher publication 1 1,865.70 
			 Social Secretary stock missing/out of date 3 414.51 
			 Date stamped unused stock 1 50.00 
			 Total 37 866,063.80 
		
	
	For comparison in 2003–04 accountable stores losses were £5.724 million of which £5.722 million was one case arising from a major review of waste and obsolete publications held at the publications distributor.

Avian Influenza

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 998W, on avian influenza, when she expects to be in a position to issue government guidance on action to be taken in the event of an avian influenza pandemic in schools;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 998W, on avian influenza, to which of the answers to the hon. Member for Bury, North on 30 January 2006, Official Report, column 96W, she was referring to.

Jacqui Smith: My Department is contributing on schools to further guidance on wider contingency planning for a possible influenza pandemic which the Government will issue later this spring. Pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 998W, that answer should have referred to an earlier reply to the hon. Member for East Devon on 8 November 2005, Official Report, column 445W and not to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North.

GNVQ Courses

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies there were on GNVQ courses in (a) West Lancashire and (b) England in each year between 1997 and 2005.

Phil Hope: The figures requested are not collected centrally.

Influenza Pandemic

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what provision her Department's UK influenza pandemic contingency plan makes for the operation of schools.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health's contingency plan refers briefly to schools, but officials in the Department and the Department of Health are working together on further guidance. The hon. Member will be aware that I am a Member of the Cabinet Committee on pandemic influenza (MISC 32) that is working to co-ordinate contingency planning for a future pandemic.

National Curriculum (Transport Safety)

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what provision is made in the national curriculum for teaching children about safety issues in relation to (a) highways and (b) railways.

Jacqui Smith: Education about safety is included in the curriculum through the non-statutory framework of Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE). In PSHE lessons pupils are taught about rules for, and ways of, keeping safe, to recognise the risks that apply in different situations and then to decide how to behave responsibly. They should be taught to recognise and manage risk, to be aware when pressure from others threatens their personal safety and to develop assertiveness techniques when dealing with unhelpful pressure.
	DfES issued 'Safety Education: Guidance for Schools' in 2001 and this references both highways and railways as contexts for safety education although it is for schools to decide on the content of their safety education programme.

Pensions Liability

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what is the total pensions liability of her Department.

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 30 January 2006, Official Report, column 73W.

Selection by Ability

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of lessons in secondary schools inspected by Ofsted were setted by ability in (a) faith schools (i) in total and (ii) broken down by faith and (b) other maintained schools.

Jacqui Smith: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Maurice Smith, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Maurice Smith, dated 21 February 2006
	Your recent parliamentary question has been referred to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of schools, for reply.
	You asked what proportion of lessons in secondary schools inspected by Ofsted were setted by ability in (a) faith schools (i) in total and (ii) broken down by faith and (b) other maintained schools.
	The tables below summarise the data from inspections of secondary schools between January 2000 and July 2003. From 2002/03 onwards records do not distinguish between setting and streaming (banded).
	
		The proportion of lessons setted by ability in secondary schools by denomination from January 2000 to July 2003
		
			 Denomination Number of schools inspected here Number of lessons Percentage of lessons inspected that were setted 
		
		
			 Church of England 122 10,763 27 
			 Roman Catholic 223 22,111 39 
			 Other Christian 17 1,302 30 
			 Jewish 2 250 13 
			 Seventh Day Adventist 1 69 9 
			 Sikh 1 105 25 
			 All Denominational 366 34,600 38 
			 All non Denominational 1,672 205,131 37 
		
	
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jacqui Smith and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in (a) each region of England and (b) each local education authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region are registered as having special educational needs; and what percentage each figure represents of the total school population in the area.

Maria Eagle: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.

Thames Gateway Strategy

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to publish the Skills for Communities plan announced in the Thames Gateway strategy, Creating Sustainable Communities: Delivering the Thames Gateway.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The document referred to in Creating Sustainable Communities: Delivering the Thames Gateway is the 'Thames Gateway Action Plan: Skills for Sustainable Communities', which was published by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in October 2005. The plan is available on the LSC's website at: www.lsc.gov.uk/thamesgateway

DEFENCE

Abu Ghraib

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) visits, (b) meetings, (c) discussions and (d) other liaison activities that have taken place between UK personnel within his responsibility and (i) the US Administration and (ii) other US agencies in relation to Abu Ghraib prison.

John Reid: Ministry of Defence officials are in regular contact with the United States authorities on a wide range of issues relating to the coalition operation in Iraq. It is likely that Abu Ghraib will have been discussed in the course of some of these contacts, but we do not possess a record of visits, and meetings for which this was the specific subject of discussion.

Afghanistan

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the extent to which insurgents in southern Afghanistan originate from (a) Afghanistan, (b) Pakistan and (c) stateless international terrorist groups.

John Reid: holding answer 1 March 2006
	The number of foreign fighters operating inside Afghanistan is low. The insurgency originates primarily in southern Afghanistan and the border areas of Pakistan.

Afghanistan

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures would be followed by UK forces deployed to Helmand province in the event of the hot pursuit of illegal combatants and other terrorist elements should those elements cross over the border into Pakistan.

John Reid: holding answer 2 March 2006
	To discuss the procedures in such cases would risk operational security and could endanger the lives of our forces.

Afghanistan

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) dates and (b) nature of attacks on UK aircraft in Afghanistan were in the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: An attempt was made to attack a UK C-17 on 3 October 2005 by small Surface to Air Fire. This was not successful and no damage was sustained.
	On 13 October 2005 Kandahar Airfield was attacked by two rockets causing shrapnel damage to two GR7 (Harrier) Aircraft, which were on the ground at the time.

British Forces (Arrests)

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether arrests by British forces on operational duty overseas would be under (a) counter-insurgency and (b) counter-terrorist rules.

Adam Ingram: British forces on operations only detain individuals where there is a legal basis to do so. The powers of arrest and detention are particular to each theatre and depend on the legal basis of the operation.

British Nuclear Deterrent

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely cost of replacing the British nuclear deterrent.

John Reid: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 20 October 2005, Official Report, column 1217W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice).

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the policy of the (a) British Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force is on sourcing goods from Burma.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's procurement policy, which embraces the procurement activities of the Service Commands, is driven by the need to ensure best long term value for money in accordance with UK Government policy and any relevant international procurement directives. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 27 February 2006, Official Report, columns 124–25, by the Minister of State for Trade.
	The Ministry of Defence has no current direct contracts in place with companies in Burma.

Hooding

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when officials and Ministers in his Department were first informed of the direction by the General Officer Commanding 1 (UK) Armoured Division banning hooding in April 2003;
	(2)  for what reason the General Officer Commanding 1 (UK) Armoured Division in Iraq issued a formal direction banning hooding in April 2003.

Adam Ingram: Officials were aware of the direction by General Officer Commanding 1 (UK) Armoured Division in the days after it was issued. Ministers were made aware of this order in May 2004.
	The direction was issued because it was assessed that there was no longer any military justification to continue the practice of hooding given the prevailing circumstances at the time.

Iraq

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether the use of munitions containing depleted uranium in Iraq has contributed to an increase in uranium levels in other countries.

Adam Ingram: Assessments of the potential health and environmental effects of using depleted uranium munitions have been carried out by the Ministry of Defence and other government and independent academic groups. Information on the Ministry of Defence Depleted Uranium Research Programme was announced in the House on 14 March 2002, Official Report, columns 1179–80W. Information on work by other agencies such as the Royal Society and the United Nations Environment Programme is available on the world wide web at: www.postconflict.unep.ch/ and www.royalsociety.ac.uk/du/. These assessments consider how the depleted uranium is distributed in the environment and do not make a distinction between the country in which the material is used and any other country. All the assessments conclude that any DU contamination will be limited and localised. This has been confirmed by independent surveys in Iraq, Kuwait and in the Balkans and in the survey in Iraq by my Department announced in the House on 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 746W.

Iraq

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the policy of the Coalition is on the protection and identification of holy sites in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: The Iraqi Government has responsibility for the identification and protection of holy sites in Iraq. The Coalition does, however, take very seriously the need to respect Iraq's religious, historical and cultural heritage. UK forces respect sites of cultural sensitivity wherever they are deployed in the world. As part of the Coalition in Iraq, UK forces provide support as necessary to the Iraqi security forces as they continue to build stability and security.

Nuclear Submarines

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which UK ports are being adapted to accommodate nuclear submarine berths.

Adam Ingram: No UK ports are currently being adapted to accommodate Z-berth nuclear submarine facilities. The Royal Navy currently uses Z-berths at RNAD Coulport, Loch Ewe, Loch Goil, Portsmouth and Broadford Bay. In a addition, the MOD is working with local authorities in Southampton and Portland to develop and test the emergency planning arrangements needed to re-establish full Z-berth status at those ports. This will not require adaptations to existing facilities. Preliminary discussions have also been held with Sefton metropolitan borough council.

Overseas Deployments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British soldiers are stationed abroad.

Adam Ingram: The numbers of personnel posted to each location abroad are shown in Tri-Service Publication 6, Global Location of UK Regular Forces" (TSP 6).
	TSP 6 is published quarterly; the most recent publication shows the numbers of Service personnel at 1 October 2005.
	Copies of TSP 6 are available in the House of Commons Library and at www.dasa.mod.uk.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Service personnel on tour in Iraq were sent back to the UK in advance of their scheduled tour end date due to a post traumatic stress disorder or related condition developed whilst on tour in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: holding answer 27 February 2006
	Up to 31 December 2005, 200 personnel who deployed to Operation Telic were subsequently diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We cannot, however, break these figures down to differentiate between those who were sent back to the UK early and those who presented at a MOD Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) at a later date, as this information is not recorded. Nor do these figures indicate whether the mental health condition is attributable to service.

QinetiQ

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total value was of payments from his Department to QinetiQ in each of the last four years.

John Reid: The total value of payments to QinetiQ by the Ministry of Defence in each of the last four financial years was:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2002–03 638.7 
			 2003–04 727.5 
			 2004–05 666.1 
			 2005–06 (to end February 2006 665.5 
		
	
	These figures are VAT inclusive.

Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was allocated to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment in each of the last 13 years.

Adam Ingram: Records of funding allocations are kept for only seven years; for the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, these allocations, including those for the current financial year, are as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			 Financial year Amount 
		
		
			 1998–99 3.589 
			 1999–2000 3.714 
			 2000–01 4.198 
			 2001–02 4.393 
			 2002–03 4.669 
			 2003–04 4.860 
			 2004–05 5.019 
			 2005–06 5.280

Royal Navy

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria his Department uses to decide whether to grant requests for Royal Naval vessels to attend events organised by private organisations.

Adam Ingram: Events are considered according to their potential to support Ministry of Defence interests and those who are likely to attend. This process takes into account security and berthing facilities, ship availability, cost implications, the nature of the event (including ship affiliations and other participants), demographics and levels of anticipated public attendance.

South Atlantic

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what forces are (a) available and (b) scheduled to be available in the next 12 months in the South Atlantic; and at what level of readiness.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 7 March 2006
	Our forces are sufficient to protect the UK's Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic. Assets deployed include fighter and refuelling aircraft, air defence, infantry troops and various maritime and support units. These are supplemented by routine deployments from time to time. They are at varying degrees of readiness appropriate to their role. Force levels are kept under review. There are no plans to change our commitment over the next 12 months.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to (a) generate annual efficiency gains in logistics and procurement by modernising business processes, (b) generate annual savings in its back office through rationalisation and information-enabled business change, (c) make better use of its assets and manpower to meet security threats, (d) improve the defence information infrastructure, (e) improve the Defence estate, (f) improve the management of the fleet of military vehicles and (g) improve the healthcare of service personnel; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets.

John Reid: Baselines are typically either the position at April 2004 or the centrally agreed financial planning assumptions for the years 2004–05 to 2007–08 made in the Ministry of Defence's Short Term Plan 2004. More information can be found in the Department's Efficiency Technical Note which was published in December 2005.
	Good progress has been made in meeting the department's targets, with over £740 million of efficiencies delivered to the end of December. This includes over £280 million-from the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme; £90 million from procurement reform, including travel modernisation; over £20 million from Whole Fleet Management; £40 million from Defence Information Infrastructure; £10 million from Joint Personnel Administration; £180 million from force capability changes; £20 million from estates modernisation; and over £80 million from improving the quality of healthcare.
	Efficiencies will be re-invested in the Department's budget, in line with the Defence priorities set out in the Future Capabilities Command Paper, published in July 2004, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asset Ownership

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what statistics the Government collect on the equality of asset ownership;
	(2)  whether the Government collect statistics on the (a) dynamics and (b) persistence of asset poverty.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	Statistics on the Distribution of Personal Wealth are available on the website of HM Revenue and Customs (at www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal_wealth/menu.htm). An additional source of statistics on the distribution of household savings and assets is the Family Resources Survey published by the Department for Work and Pensions (available from www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/frs/index/publications.asp).
	There are a number of other Government sponsored surveys which carry questions on some elements of wealth but there is as yet no comprehensive survey of UK data on wealth, savings and debt. The Office for National Statistics, together with other Government Departments, is planning to undertake a comprehensive household wealth and assets survey. This new survey will directly measure household assets, liabilities and wealth in Great Britain.

Benefit Processing Centres

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are used in making decisions on the (a) number and (b) location of benefit-processing centres in London.

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Lesley Strathie
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what criteria are used in making decisions on the (a) number and (b) location of benefit processing centres in London. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	During the late 1980s benefit processing work for a number of offices in London was moved to centres in Glasgow, Makerfield and Belfast as part of a work relocation project. Over the last two years we have progressively centralised the remaining processing work for London mainly in three new centres based in Hackney, Ilford and Stratford as part of the roll out of our new Jobcentre Plus service. The centralisation of this work is now almost complete with around 96 per cent. of benefits processed in one of the six centres.
	The aim has been to locate the remaining benefit processing work in as few sites as possible to maximise efficiency, while ensuring the best use of our existing estate and expertise. The key criteria used in determining the number and location of these new centres were therefore:
	sites able to house an optimum of 250 people, but at least 100;
	locations within reasonable daily travelling distance of trained staff;
	the extent of refurbishment needed.
	Centralisation of Benefit Delivery is a key part of the modernisation of our business and will provide a much more effective use of resources and more importantly a much improved and more consistent level of customer service.

Buncefield Inquiry

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the interim conclusions of the inquiry into the Buncefield fire; and if he will place these interim conclusions in the Library.

Anne McGuire: I have placed a copy of the Buncefield Investigation Progress Report in the Library. The report describes the incident of 11 December 2005 and the response to it. It sets out what the investigation has determined so far about the likely nature of the explosions and fire that occurred, but contains no conclusions about how they occurred. This information is not yet available. The investigation is continuing its work to identify the root causes of the incident, including establishing exactly how the flammable mixture that gave rise to the explosions was able to form. Further information will be published as it emerges from the investigation.

Child Support Agency

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the contractor who supplied the Child Support Agency's updated IT system has fulfilled the obligations set out in the procurement contract.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the contractor who supplied the Child Support Agency's updated IT system has fulfilled the obligations set out in the procurement contract.
	Under the original contract for Child Support Reform IT services, EDS was required to design, build, finance and operate the new Child Support computer system (CS2) to meet the Child Support Agency's requirements. It has been well reported the new system did not function as well as expected. The Department continues to work with EDS to improve the performance of the system.
	In August 2005, the Department further addressed CS2 issues as part of a general realignment of its IT contracts with EDS. Under this realignment EDS will complete the CS2 system as specified, including correcting all agreed defects at no additional cost. Operationally, the live system is now more stable than it was in 2003 and its performance is currently meeting all contracted service level targets.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average number of staff hours spent by the Child Support Agency on assessing a case is under (a) old and (b) new rules.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency staff members are allocated to tactical clearance teams at each Child Support Agency centre; and what performance targets have been set for such teams.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency staff members are allocated to tactical clearance teams at each Child Support Agency centre; and what performance targets have been set for such teams.
	The table below contains the number of staff allocated to each tactical clearance team by business unit:
	
		
			   Business unit Number of staff working in tactical clearance teams as at January 2006 
		
		
			 Eastern 29 
			 Midlands 31 
			 South East 14 
			 Scotland and North East England 23 
			 South West 7 
			 Wales and North West 31 
			 Total 135 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are provided as full time equivalents.
	2. The table does not include staff doing GB child support work in Belfast, as they are employees of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
	There are currently three performance targets used by the tactical clearance teams. All three targets are associated with the closing of cases and are as follows:
	Cases referred to the Agency by Jobcentre Plus where the non-resident parent is either unknown or unidentifiable. The target is 6.66 closures per day per full time member of staff.
	Cases referred to the Agency by Jobcentre Plus which cannot be progressed on the new computer system without a technical intervention. The majority of these cases are appropriate for closure and the target is 6 closures per day per full time member of staff.
	Cases where the parent with care was in receipt of a prescribed benefit, has subsequently ended the benefit claim and has agreed that their case can be closed. The target is to close 14.3 cases per day per full time member of staff.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed as part of the Child Support Agency contingency team in Liverpool and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system; and how many of them were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 18 months for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff were employed as part of the Child Support Agency contingency team in Liverpool and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system; and how many of them were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 18 months for which figures are available.
	The Contingency Team in Liverpool supports the six Child Support Agency centres by answering calls remotely which require access to the legacy Child Support computer system (CSCS). The Contingency Team call-handlers do not deal with calls relating to the new CS2 computer system.
	The attached table shows the number of staff employed as part of the Contingency Team in Liverpool at the end of each of the last 18 months.
	I hope you find this response helpful.
	
		Staff employed as part of the Liverpool contingency team -- Number
		
			  Staff employed(19) 
		
		
			 August 2004 42.13 
			 September 2004 43.31 
			 October 2004 44.53 
			 November 2004 42.89 
			 December 2004 44.2 
			 January 2005 41.58 
			 February 2005 41.58 
			 March 2005 44.17 
			 April 2005 43.77 
			 May 2005 39.37 
			 June 2005 39.87 
			 July 2005 40.47 
			 August 2005 38.83 
			 September 2005 39.03 
			 October 2005 38.43 
			 November 2005 52.48 
			 December 2005 52.48 
			 January 2006 61.68 
		
	
	(19) Full-time equivalent.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total number of staff employed in each of the six Child Support Agency call centres was in the UK; how many staff in each call centre were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 24 months for which figures are available; and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total number of staff employed in each of the six Child Support Agency call centres was in the UK; how many staff in each call centre were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 24 months for which figures are available; and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system.
	There is a National Helpline team situated in each of the Agency's six centres. The attached table shows the number of National Helpline staff in each of these teams.
	Staff on the National Helpline multi-task between the legacy Child Support Computer System and the new CS2 system according to customer demand.
	I hope you find this response helpful.
	
		Number
		
			  Belfast Birkenhead Dudley Falkirk Hastings Plymouth Total 
		
		
			 February 2004 80.63 58.44 76.93 81.38 57.45 73.69 428.52 
			 March 2004 86.63 58.42 77.94 78.41 44.01 63.18 408.59 
			 April 2004 88.23 60.30 70.25 79.32 51.95 70.84 420.89 
			 May 2004 86.34 57.84 73.95 74.91 52.81 70.75 416.6 
			 June 2004 83.13 57.27 71.68 75.91 53.40 66.48 407.87 
			 July 2004 82.23 58.88 70.68 61.92 52.40 65.06 391.17 
			 August 2004 79.14 56.88 70.15 61.92 51.12 62.69 381.9 
			 September 2004 84.95 55.19 68.69 61.55 52.18 61.74 384.3 
			 October 2004 81.93 54.13 68.18 58.69 49.83 55.92 368.68 
			 November 2004 79.43 51.88 68.18 61.78 45.15 55.57 361.99 
			 December 2004 79.93 61.48 65.00 64.11 47.41 56.08 374.01 
			 January 2005 77.03 59.25 65.57 55.82 46.51 54.99 359.17 
			 February 2005 78.03 58.95 65.57 55.82 46.51 54.99 359.87 
			 March 2005 78.39 55.65 61.71 59.30 45.78 68.99 369.82 
			 April 2005 84.48 53.69 61.17 59.74 46.55 71.96 377.59 
			 May 2005 86.34 54.67 61.22 59.95 44.62 69.00 375.8 
			 June 2005 85.34 58.10 61.21 60.39 43.61 60.64 369.29 
			 July 2005 84.14 55.67 59.47 59.41 42.62 68.23 369.54 
			 August 2005 78.14 54.67 59.64 59.22 40.81 65.77 358.25 
			 September 2005 75.14 52.63 59.09 60.17 40.11 64.16 351.3 
			 October 2005 79.64 54.58 57.15 61.62 39.68 64.77 357.44 
			 November 2005 93.18 56.58 59.64 63.91 42.63 64.28 380.22 
			 December 2005 95.28 55.23 59.07 62.19 37.10 62.75 371.62 
			 January 2006 92.28 58.93 59.56 62.82 47.96 68.97 390.52 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures are whole-time equivalent and include management and support staff in addition to call-handling staff.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006, how many of his Department's staff he intends to transfer internally to the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement plan; when he expects those transfers to occur; and whether they will be (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15th February 2006 how many of his Department's staff he intends to transfer internally to the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement Plan; when he expects those transfers to occur; and whether they will be (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory.
	A key part of the Operational Improvement Plan is to increase Agency staffing levels by 1,000 in order to address backlogs of work. The Agency is seeking to maximise the contribution made towards achieving this increase in its headcount by transferring in existing staff from other parts of the Department, together with their existing accommodation. Discussions are currently taking place to establish the number of staff who would be available to transfer to the Agency from other DWP sites. Precise numbers have yet to be agreed. It is anticipated that most staff who transfer across to the Agency would do so on a voluntary basis but the need for some managerial redeployment cannot be discounted at this stage.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006, how many new staff, excluding staff transferred from within his Department, he intends to employ within the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement Plan.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006 how many new staff excluding staff transferred from within his Department he intends to employ within the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement Plan.
	A key part of the Operational Improvement Plan is to increase Agency staffing levels by 1,000 in order to address backlogs of work. It is anticipated that there will be a significant requirement for new recruitment into the Agency in order to achieve this increase in headcount and address forecast levels of natural wastage. The precise levels of new recruitment will not be known until the numbers of staff available to transfer from other parts of the Department have been finalised.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of (a) lone parents and (b) lone parents in receipt of benefit are in receipt of child support maintenance.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 7 March 2006
	Evidence from the Families and Children Study 2003, shows that (a) 30 per cent. of all lone parents receive maintenance and (b) 16 per cent. of lone parents who are not working or work under 16 hours a week (not all of whom will be on benefit) are in receipt of maintenance.
	The Families and Children Study may under report maintenance receipts especially where the lone parent is on benefit and the non resident parent pays the money to the Child Support Agency.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been collected in child maintenance for each year since 1997.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been collected in child maintenance for each year since 1997.
	The total amount of maintenance collected by the Child Support Agency, and recorded in the Agency Annual Accounts in each financial year since 1996–97 is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Total Maintenance Collected (£ million) 
		
		
			 2004–05 585.41 
			 2003–04 580.27 
			 2002–03 572.55 
			 2001–02 528.45 
			 2000–01 502.55 
			 1999–2000 460.68 
			 1998–99 392.38 
			 1997–98 306.16 
			 1996–97 213.21 
		
	
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the monthly figures were for the Child Support Agency of (a) applications received, (b) applications cleared, (c) first payments made, (d) first child maintenance premium payments made, (e) cash compliance, (f) case compliance and (g) the ratio of costs to maintenance collected between January and December 2005.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the monthly figures were for the Child Support Agency of (a) applications received (b) applications cleared (c) first payments made (d) first child maintenance premium payments made (e) cash compliance (f) case compliance and (g) the ratio of costs to maintenance collected between January and December 2005.
	The information requested for parts (a), (b) and (c) are included in the attached table.
	The latest available information in answer to parts (d), (e) and (f) can be found in the Child Support Agency's Quarterly Summary Statistics which is published on the DWP website, a copy of which can be found in the House library. The information requested can be found in the following tables:
	(d) Table 14
	(e) Table 11
	(f) Table 7
	(g) The Child Support Agency accounts for 2005/06 will not be compiled and audited until the financial year end. For this reason I am unable to provide you with the ratio of costs to maintenance collected for the period requested.
	I hope you find this helpful.
	
		Number of potential applications received, cases cleared and first payments made in each month since February 2005
		
			  Applications received Applications cleared First payment via collection service, or maintenance direct arrangement arranged in lieu of first payment 
		
		
			 February 2005 25,000 19,000 6,000 
			 March 2005 25,000 24,000 8,000 
			 April 2005 25,000 24,000 7,000 
			 May 2005 25,000 27,000 7,000 
			 June 2005 25,000 26,000 8,000 
			 July 2005 25,000 25,000 7,000 
			 August 2005 23,000 22,000 7,000 
			 September 2005 24,000 28,000 7,000 
			 October 2005 29,000 27,000 8,000 
			 November 2005 30,000 32,000 8,000 
			 December 2005 23,000 24,000 8,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. An application is defined as cleared if a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a maintenance collection method has been set up and agreed with the non resident parent; a case has been identified as being subject to a reduced benefit decision, claiming good cause, as a change of circumstances to an existing case, as opposed to a new application, or has been closed.
	2. Cases in which a maintenance direct arrangement has been facilitated have been included in addition to first payments of maintenance via the collection service, as the former also represent a positive outcome generated for the parent with care by the agency.
	3. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Child Support Agency

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether the application of servicemen's exemption from the Child Support (Enforcement and Collection) Regulations 1992 will be reconsidered in the current review of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions have taken place with the Ministry of Defence concerning the deduction of Child Support Agency payments from the salaries of serving members of the armed forces.

James Plaskitt: The Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 do apply to service personnel. The only area of difference is that the Agency issues Deduction from Earnings Requests for service personnel rather than Deductions from Earnings Orders, but both work in broadly the same way.
	The Child Support Agency and DWP officials meet with Ministry of Defence officials at Agency-run employer forum's, to discuss a range of issues including deductions of child support from pay.
	Sir David Henshaw is consulting widely on the redesign and will consider concerns raised during this process.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the £90 million allocated to improving the Child Support Agency's performance.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The Operational Improvement Plan sets out the actions that will be taken to stabilise and improve Agency performance in the short term. It commits to significant improvements through more effective use of enforcement powers, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of the Agency and increasing debt recovery.
	To support the plan, £90 million has been made available from the Department's existing resource over the next three years, with a further £30 million available to contract out some of the Agency's debt recovery.

Debt Centres

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many outstanding cases there were in each debt centre in the Department as at 1 December.

James Plaskitt: At 1 December the number of cases where recovery action had yet to commence was 422,137 broken down by debt centre as in the table below. This includes 37,194 of the 48,000 cases that were stockpiled awaiting the outcome the Hinchy judgment. The number of cases awaiting action has risen temporarily, as we would expect while successfully undertaking data migration onto a new, standard commercial debt management IT system.
	
		
			 Debt centre Total outstanding 
		
		
			 Dearne Valley 57,144 
			 Corby 51,510 
			 Makerfield 39,052 
			 Bradford 59,818 
			 Glasgow 38,778 
			 Stornoway 53,071 
			 Manchester 25,486 
			 Porth 39,408 
			 Nuneaton 57,870 
			 Total 422,137

Employment Advisers (GP Surgeries)

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what plans he has to pilot the placement of employment advisers in general practitioner surgeries; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what funds will be made available for the placement of employment advisers in general practitioner surgeries; what assessment he has made of the merits of the use of employment advisers from (a) Jobcentre Plus, (b) private companies and (c) voluntary organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: As part of the Pathways to Work approach Jobcentre Plus has been working closely with a wide range of NHS professionals in surgeries and other health settings to promote the health and employment message. Some non-governmental organisations have already placed employment advisers in general practitioner surgeries across the country and our proposals came from this experience.
	We want to build on the knowledge gained from these experiments and will be running pilots in five of the seven current Pathways to Work Pilot areas, where we will place employment advisers in general practitioner surgeries. We have already begun piloting this in two surgeries in Bridgend and Paisley. All pilots will be in place by April 2006 and will continue until March 2008.
	The pilot will examine if an outreach service in health settings is a good way to engage with people who have a health condition or disability. In particular, we want to see if it is an effective method to reach those who do not currently access work focused support. The lessons learned from these pilots will help to ensure the success of our proposals recently published in our Green Paper; A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to Work". Any decisions on future roll out or methodology, as part of the Pathways approach, will be taken following an evaluation of the pilot.

EU Citizens

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many workers from the new European Union member states are claiming unemployment benefits in the United Kingdom.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available; no record is kept of claimants' nationalities.

Jobcentre Plus

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consultation Jobcentre Plus conducted in relation to changes in tendering processes for prime contractors for the new deal in the North West.

Margaret Hodge: We are introducing new contracting procedures to reduce the bureaucratic costs to Jobcentre Plus and improve performance. Changes to the new deal contract tendering process have been carried out across all Jobcentre Plus regions including the North West region.
	Prior notice of the tendering competitions, including our revised Contracting Strategy, was placed on the Provider pages of the Jobcentre Plus website at www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk and promoted through newspaper advertisements. We place an advertisement twice a year in 'The Voice', the Metro and the Guardian, to inform providers of the range of tendering opportunities available on the website, and have also placed an advertisement in the February edition of the Voluntary Services Directory.
	We are assisting bidders and potential sub-contractors through supplier briefings at stage two of the contracting process at meetings held in Newcastle, Birmingham and London. We also ensure that the Provider question and answer section on our website is regularly updated.
	Throughout the contracting process we have kept the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) and the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) fully informed of all developments and changes to the new deal contracting process. The ALP and ERSA are working with this Department, the Treasury and the National Audit Office as part of a Provider Task Force to improve the quality and performance of our employment programmes.

Pathways to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the outcomes of (a) pathways to work participants who volunteer for the condition management programme and (b) participants who have similar conditions but who do not volunteer for the condition management programme; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The condition management programme is a voluntary option in our successful pathways to work and around 7,100 people have chosen this option. Of these 17 per cent. were no longer claiming benefits and nine per cent were in work within six months.
	The information requested is not available on participants who have similar conditions but who do not volunteer for the condition management programme.

Post Office Card Accounts

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Post Office used to receive for each order book payment it made before the introduction of the Post Office Card Account (POCA); what other administrative costs the Government paid in respect of each order book transaction; and if he will estimate the average amount per transaction which the Government lost through fraud when using (a) the POCA and (b) order books.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. The cost to the Government of an order book payment prior to the introduction of the Post Office card account was about 68p per foil.
	DWP used to lose around £50 million a year through order book fraud and around 100 pensioners had their order book stolen each week.
	The introduction of direct payment has removed these risks as payments now go direct into accounts nominated by the customer.
	There is currently no evidence of any loss to the Government through fraud in the transmission of payments to the Post Office card account.

Post Office Card Accounts

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency use Post Office card accounts to receive benefits and pensions.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Information showing the number of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account for each parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library.

SERPS

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the weekly state earnings-related pension scheme and second state pension entitlement is for someone retiring with (a) 10 and (b) 20 years' national insurance contributions.

Stephen Timms: The requested information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Additional pension (£) 
		
		
			 Entitlement based on 10 years contributions: 27 
			 Entitlement based on 20 years contributions: 55 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures have been expressed in 2005–06 earnings terms based on constant median full-time adult earnings.
	2. We have assumed standard rate class 1 national insurance contributions have been paid, or treated as paid, during the last 10 and 20 years of the individual's working life.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Plastic Cups

John Leech: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission 
	(1)  what percentage of plastic cups used in the House were recycled in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the cost of providing plastic cups for meetings in the House was in the last year for which figures are available.

Nick Harvey: The cost of plastic cups provided for Committee and meeting rooms in 2004–05 was £2,887. Plastic cups are currently incinerated as part of the waste stream to generate electricity rather than recycled. A new contract for the supply of disposable catering products is about to be awarded. It is intended that bio-degradable cups will be used in catering outlets and, subject to suitability, in Committee and meeting rooms in place of plastic cups.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Community Radio

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the community radio licences which have been granted in England and Wales following the enactment of the Communications Act 2003.

James Purnell: Ofcom are responsible for the awarding of community radio licences. To date, Ofcom have awarded 68 community radio licences in England and Wales, the details of which they have provided below:
	
		
			 Station name Location 
		
		
			 Forest of Dean Community Radio Coleford and Newent, Forest of Dean 
			 Angel Radio Havant, Hampshire 
			 Cross Rhythms City Radio Stoke on Trent 
			 GTFM Pontypridd 
			 Afan FM Port Talbot and Neath 
			 Express FM Portsmouth 
			 Angel Radio Newport, Isle of Wight 
			 Unity 101 Southampton 
			 Skyline Community Radio Hedge End, Botley, West End, Hampshire 
			 Takeover Radio Leicester 
			 Ikhlas Foundation Derby 
			 The Eye Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire 
			 Harborough FM Market Harborough 
			 Radio Faza Nottingham 
			 Radio Dawn Nottingham 
			 NBC Live Nottingham 
			 BCB Bradford 
			 Phoenix FM Halifax 
			 ALL FM South Central Manchester 
			 Wythenshawe FM Wythenshawe, Manchester 
			 Chorley FM Chorley, Lancashire 
			 Crescent Radio Rochdale 
			 Future Radio West Norwich 
			 Radio Asian Fever FM Leeds, Yorkshire 
			 Oldham Community Radio Oldham 
			 Tameside Community Radio Tameside, Cheshire 
			 Pure Radio Stockport 
			 Salford Community Radio Salford, Manchester 
			 Switch Radio Castle Vale North East Birmingham 
			 New Style Radio Birmingham 
			 Aston FM Aston, Birmingham 
			 Unity FM Birmingham 
			 The Public West Bromwich 
			 The 'Bridge Stourbridge 
			 WCR FM Wolverhampton 
			 Lionheart Radio Alnwick 
			 CBIT Newcastle upon Tyne 
			 The Voice Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria 
			 Seaside Radio Withernsea, Holderness 
			 Youth Community Radio Worcester 
			 Gloucester FM City of Gloucester 
			 Toradio Pontypool and Torfaen, South Wales 
			 West Hull Community Radio West Hull 
			 Radio Reverb Brighton, West Sussex 
			 Colchester Army Radio Colchester, Essex 
			 Spirit of Plymouth FM Plymouth 
			 Resonance FM Central London 
			 Desi Radio North West London 
			 Sound Radio Hackney 
			 Forest FM Verwood, East Dorset 
			 Wetherby Community Radio Wetherby, Yorkshire 
			 Kool AM Harlow, Essex 
			 CSR Canterbury 
			 Asian Star Slough 
			 Life FM Stonebridge/Harlesden 
			 NuSound Radio Newham 
			 Voice of Africa Radio Newham, East London 
			 Radio Umma Newham, East London 
			 Westside Community Radio Southall, West London 
			 Hayes Community Radio Hayes, Middlesex 
			 Irish FM Hammersmith, West London 
			 Phoenix FM Brentwood, Essex 
			 Link FM Harold Wood, Essex 
			 Bexley Community Media Association Bexley, Kent 
			 Bristol Community FM Bristol 
			 Radio Teesdale Teesdale 
			 Sheffield Live! Sheffield 
			 Burngreave Community Radio Sheffield 
		
	
	Further details can be found on the Ofcom website at www.ofcom.org.uk

Departmental Services (Expenditure)

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) her Department and (b) its agencies spent on (i) electricity use and (ii) water and sewerage services in each year since 1997.

Richard Caborn: In the last five years DCMS expenditure is as follows:
	
		£
		
			  Electricity Water and sewerage 
		
		
			 2000–01 283,931 n/a 
			 2001–02 273,750 n/a 
			 2002–03 276,019 11,138 
			 2003–04 253,616 11,991 
			 2004–05 224,929 12,846 
		
	
	Data for earlier years are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Data for the Royal Parks are as follows:
	
		£
		
			  Electricity Water and sewerage 
		
		
			 1997–98 332,323 218,900 
			 1998–99 258,096 231,671 
			 1999–2000 213,269 244,680 
			 2000–01 228,428 237,969 
			 2001–02 208,763 190,426 
			 2002–03 245,005 260,542 
			 2003–04 270,154 292,341 
			 2004–05 270,601 211,058

Digital Television

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in developing proposals to provide assistance to (a) pensioners and (b) people on low incomes to switch to digital television.

James Purnell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes (Mr. Lancaster) on 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 588.

International Sporting Events

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 16 February 2006, Official Report, column 2198W, on international sporting events, if she will list the individuals concerned; and for what reasons each is visiting the Commonwealth Games.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The following table sets out the names and positions of the individuals who are planning to visit the Commonwealth Games and their reasons for doing so, as listed in my answer of 16 February 2006.
	At the time of my previous answer, Sport England had planned to send six members of staff to the Commonwealth to represent the organisation; this total subsequently fell to three.
	For the sake of completeness, I have included in the list a further seven Sport England employees who were not counted for the purposes of my previous answer because they will not in any way represent or work for Sport England at the Commonwealth Games, but will be seconded either to Team England or to the Commonwealth Games Council for England (CGCE) for the duration of their stay. I have also included David Higgins, who is temporarily on the Department's payroll pending establishment of the Olympic Delivery Authority.
	
		
			 Name Position Organisation Reason for travel 
		
		
			 Tessa Jowell MP Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport DCMS Official visit to support British teams 
			 Richard Caborn MP Minister for Sport DCMS Official visit to support British teams and attend meeting of Commonwealth Sports Ministers 
			 Helen MacNamara PPS/Tessa Jowell DCMS Accompanying Tessa Jowell 
			  PS/Richard Caborn DCMS Accompanying Richard Caborn 
			 Nicola Roche Director for Sport DCMS Meetings with Australian officials and accompanying Secretary of State 
			  Press officer DCMS Accompanying Richard Caborn 
			 David Higgins Chief Executive Designate ODA DCMS Attending to learn lessons from how Melbourne is staging the Games, how they are handling security and how the delivery of the facilities will leave a sustainable legacy for the city. 
			 Sue Campbell Chair UK Sport Chairing meeting of Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS), various meetings, including lunch with Australian Minister (TBC). 
			 John Scott International Director UK Sport Attending CABOS meeting and others with eg Australian Sports Commission and Sydney Olympic Park Authority. 
			 Liz Nicholl Director of Performance UK Sport Attending International Association of High Performance Sports Training Centres (IAHPSTC) Board Meetings 1314 March. Taking overview of performances across UK teams. 
			 Peter Keen Performance Advisor UK Sport Attending various meetings, eg with Commonwealth Games Associations. Taking an overview of performances across UK teams. 
			 
			 Darlene Harrison Coaching Consultant UK Sport Attendance at swimming holding camp on Gold Coast and coach seminar at Essendon football club. Pre-arranged meetings with elite coaches across sport in respect of potential future coaching need and numbers for 2012. 
			 Lord Patrick Carter(20) Chair Sport England Representing Sport England 
			 Stephen Baddeley(20) Interim Chief Executive Sport England Representing Sport England 
			 Sir Andrew Foster* Main Board Member Sport England Representing Sport England 
			 Matt Crawcour Head of Media UK Sport Secondment as Press Attache to Team England 
			 Neil Livesey IT Manager UK Sport IT Support for Elite Athlete Medical Records system 
			 Hamish McInnes(21) Head of Governing Bodies Sport England Seconded to Team England as senior HQ staff liaison and support 
			 Petta Naylor(21) Events Manager Sport England Seconded to Team England to provide holding camp support; Team England events support during the Games. 
			 Sandra Phillips(21) Events Manager Sport England Event support for Team England stakeholder events during the Games period. 
			 Vivien Smiley(21) Communications Manager Sport England Seconded to Team England as a Press Officer 
			 Di Horsley Senior Development Manager- National Governing Bodies Team Sport England Seconded to Team England as HQ staff in the athletes village and at competition events 
			 Linda Freeman(22) Senior Development Manager- National Governing Bodies Team Sport England Seconded to Team England to provide HQ support in the athletes village and at competition events 
			 Trudi Else(23) Client / Project Manager Sport England Seconded to Team England to provide HQ support in the athletes village and at events. 
			 
			 Dr. Bruce Hamilton Sports Physician EIS Secondment to UK Athletics 
			 Neil Black Lead Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to UK Athletics 
			 Dr. Kirsten Barnes Lead Sports Psychologist EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Nigel Mitchell Lead Nutritionist EIS Secondment to England cycling team 
			 Paula Clayton Sports Masseur EIS Secondment to England diving team 
			 Dr. Simon Till Sports Physician EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Pat Dunleavy Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to England swimming team 
			 Fiona Blakelock Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to England triathlon team 
			 Lynda Daley Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Dr. Nick Peirce Sports Physician EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Dr. Shauna McGibbon Sports Physician EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Mike Peyrebrune Physiologist EIS Secondment to England swimming team 
			 Matt Parker Physiologist EIS Secondment to England cycling team 
			 Stafford Murray Lead Performance Analyst EIS Secondment to England squash team 
			 Andy Harrison Physiologist EIS Presenting at 13th Commonwealth International Sport Conference (24) 
			 Mark Simpson Strength and conditioning Coach EIS Presenting at 13th Commonwealth International Sport Conference 
			 Mike Hughes Performance Analyst EIS Secondment to England cycling team 
			 Gavin Thomas Physiologist EIS Secondment to England cycling team 
			 Ashleigh Wallace Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to England hockey team 
			 Pete Atkinson Strength and conditioning Coach EIS Secondment to England hockey team 
			 
			 Dr. Mike Rossiter Sports Physician EIS Secondment to England hockey team 
			 Dr. Cathy Speed Sports Physician EIS Secondment to England badminton team 
			 Nicki Combarro Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to England badminton team 
			 Dr. Ian McCurdie Sports Physician EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Dr. Mike Loosemore Sports Physician EIS Secondment to CGCE/England boxing team 
			 Matt Lancaster Physiotherapist EIS Secondment to England athletics team 
			 Claire Furlong Head of Media Affairs EIS Secondment to CGCE 
			 Mike Calvin Deputy Director EIS Presenting at 13th Commonwealth International Sport Conference and representing EIS 
			 Wilma Shakespeare National Director EIS Representing EIS 
		
	
	(20) Visit funded by Sport England
	(21) Part funded by Sport England and the Commonwealth Games Council for England (CGCE)
	(22) Funded by the CGCE
	(23) Flights paid for by individual
	(24) The 13th Commonwealth International Sport Conference takes place on 912 March in Melbourne. More information at http://www.cisc2006.com/Pub/pStart.asp

Library Services

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact on book lending rates and library usage of the level of security and protection in public libraries.

James Purnell: There are no data gathered which attempt to make the link between lending levels, usage levels and security levels within public libraries. However public libraries are usually regarded as trusted and safe spaces for people to use information, acquire knowledge and enjoy reading and discovery.
	The level and type of security employed at public libraries is a matter for the parent authorities.

Licensing

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received from local authorities concerning decisions by magistrates on the awarding of costs in cases considered under the Licensing Act 2003.

James Purnell: The Government have not issued guidance to the Magistrates' Association concerning the Licensing Act 2003 (the 2003 Act). Guidance has been issued to licensing authorities (who are mainly local authorities) under Section 182 of the 2003 Act. It is available from: www.culture.gov.uk/global/publications/archive_2004/guidance_issued_under_section_182_of_the_ licensing_act_2003.htm

Satellite Television

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the proportion of television viewers in (a) the UK, (b) Wales and (c) Wrexham with satellite television.

James Purnell: Ofcom estimates that 32 per cent. of UK households either subscribe to digital satellite television or receive the free-to-view satellite services. Figures for individual nations or areas are not available at present, although Ofcom will be publishing a report from its Audit of the Nations and Regions in the spring.

TV Licences

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many addresses in the UK are on the database of TV Licensing as having a television set on the premises.

James Purnell: I understand that the Television Licensing database records the number of premises with a television licence, rather than the number with a television set. As at March 2005 the number of addresses with a licence was 24.7 million and the estimated television licence evasion rate was 5 per cent.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Service (Political Activities)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the civil service restrictions on political activities will commence in relation to the 2006 local elections.

Jim Murphy: Guidance on this will be issued very shortly.

Departmental Estate

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what building work other than the installation of security measures has been undertaken at the Cabinet Office in the last three years.

Jim Murphy: Building work other than the installation of security measures undertaken at the Cabinet Office in the last three years are as follows:
	External cleaning, repairing of stonework and window repainting
	Structural work to basements and floor
	Internal refurbishment and redecoration
	Replacement of flooring
	Roof repairs and new access ladder
	General building works to enable occupancy
	Electrical works
	External and internal repairs following water damage
	General building repairs
	Refurbishment and reinstating of staircases
	Re-building of a retaining wall
	Construction of new training and student accommodation facilities.
	The works specified are part of a continuing programme of works to maintain standards appropriate to a particular buildings role and do not include day-to-day works and planned preventative maintenance.

Ecovert FM

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much has been paid to Ecovert FM to control rodents in the Cabinet Office since the beginning of their contract.

Jim Murphy: Figures paid to Ecovert FM to control pests, including rodents, in the Cabinet Office since the beginning of the contract are shown in the table. The amounts paid to specifically control rodents cannot be separately identified.
	
		Pest control costs
		
			  Cost () 
		
		
			 200203 25,932 
			 200304 26,822 
			 200405 27,724

Office of the Civil Service Commissioners

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners will (a) acknowledge and (b) answer the e-mail of 21 January 2006 from Mr. Michael Canton, a constituent of the hon. Member for Yeovil.

Jim Murphy: The Civil Service Commissioners are independent of government. I understand a reply was sent from the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners to Mr. Canton on 2 March 2006.

Special Advisers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many special advisers worked in the Cabinet Office between 8 September 2004 and 6 May 2005; and what the (a) salary and (b) responsibilities of each were.

Jim Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 30 January 2006, Official Report, columns 6364W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Doug Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) estimate his Department has made and (b) authoritative estimate his Department has received on the value of (i) poppy growth to the farming community in Afghanistan and (ii) the trade based on poppy farming to the Afghan economy.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office relies on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for data on the value of opium production both to the farming community and in terms of its total export value to neighbouring countries.
	According to UNODC's Afghanistan Opium Survey (AOS) the total farm-gate value of opium production was US $560 million in 2005, equivalent to 11 per cent. of GDP (200405). An estimated 309,000 families were involved in opium cultivation in 2005.
	Again according to the UNODC's AOS, the total export value of opium to neighbouring countries was US $2.7 billion, equivalent to 52 per cent. of GDP (200405). Of this US $2.14 billion is thought to have gone directly to Afghan traffickers.

Algeria and Ivory Coast

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political situation in (a) Algeria and (b) Ivory Coast.

Ian Pearson: Algeria's President Bouteflika was voted in for a second term of office in April 2004, in elections judged by independent monitors to reflect the will of the Algerian people. Algeria has since continued to enjoy increasing security and political stability. In September 2005, the Algeria people voted in a referendum for a Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation. We welcomed the participation of the Algeria people in this process. Algeria strengthened its links with the EU when its Association Agreement under the EU's Euromed partnership came into force in autumn last year.
	The peace process in Co(r)te d'Ivoire is at a critical stage. International mediation efforts are continuing with the aim of completing all the necessary work needed for elections to be held before the 31 October deadline set by the African Union and UN. We fully support the international community in this role. A meeting was held in Yamoussoukro on 28 February which was attended by key Ivorian figures. We warmly commend this meeting as a useful step in creating a greater understanding between all the parties involved.

British Overseas Territories

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance he issues to officials from his Department on the grade of official appropriate to conduct meetings and negotiations with senior elected leaders of British Overseas Territories during official visits to the UK.

Douglas Alexander: There is no formal guidance. Senior visitors are seen at whatever level is appropriate for the subject to be discussed. This could be the Minister responsible for the Overseas Territories, my noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, the responsible Director, the Head of Department, or the appropriate Desk Officer.

British Overseas Territories

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department is giving to British Overseas Territories to negotiate their share of EU regional grants.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Overseas Territories (OTs) are not eligible for regional grants from the European Regional Development Fund as they are not full members of the EU. Rather, they are associated to the EU through the UK, their parent member state, and their access to EU funding is governed by the Council Decision of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community (Overseas Association Decision). The main source of funding for the OTs is a specific allocation within the European Development Fund. They are also eligible to benefit from other budget lines and community programmes set out in Annex II E and II F of the Overseas Association Decision.
	To give practical support to the UK OTs, my Department has a member of staff whose primary functions are to assist the Territories in accessing EU funding, and to represent their interests at the European Union. In this he works closely with members of the Office of the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the European Union.

British Overseas Territories

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2006, Official Report, columns 144950W, on elections, if he will seek treaty changes providing for other British overseas territories to become part of the European Union and their citizens to be entitled to vote in European parliamentary elections.

Douglas Alexander: No. Gibraltar's position is unique. The implications of extending UK membership of the EU to the other Overseas Territories are very wide-ranging. It would fundamentally affect the relationship between the UK and the Territories. There is no indication that the Territories would welcome this.

British Overseas Territories

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to help British overseas territories to gain access to EU markets.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Overseas Territories' (OTs) access to EU markets is governed by the Council Decision of 27 November 2001, on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community (Overseas Association Decision), which was agreed between member states. The Territories were not involved directly in the discussion of the Decision, but were consulted by their parent member state (the UK). The Decision contains a section dealing with economic and trade co-operation between the overseas territories and the European Community. The Preferential Trade Regime is, we understand, the most beneficial ever granted by the EU in terms of market access.
	The Current Decision covers the period 200111. The UK OTs will again be consulted when the Decision comes up for review, which we expect to be towards the end of the current period.

British Overseas Territories

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that all representatives of British overseas territories are able to place a wreath on the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day.

Douglas Alexander: It is the long-standing practice for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to lay a wreath on behalf of all the Overseas Territories. I remain of the view that this is the most appropriate arrangement.

Burundi

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received of possible torture and serious misconduct by government police and intelligence agents in Burundi; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: We have received reports of human rights violations, including summary executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment implicating the national security forces. We have raised our concerns with the Burundian Government. At the Partners Conference in Bujumbura on 28th February, the UK stressed the importance we attach to the promotion and protection of human rights. We continue to monitor the situation closely, including through the United Nations and partners in non-governmental organisations. We will continue to encourage the Burundian Government to respect international humanitarian law and to bring to account those who flout it.

Burundi

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) members and (b) representatives of the Government of Burundi concerning their commitment to establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a special chamber within the Burundian court system to deal with serious violations of international humanitarian law during the civil war; what assistance (i) he has offered and (ii) has been (A) requested and (B) accepted; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government fully supports the fight against impunity. We believe proposals put forward last year for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Special Chamber are the best way forward in terms of justice for crimes past and for national reconciliation. The Government of Burundi has sought support from the UN Peacekeeping Mission to Burundi on putting these bodies in place and we understand a UN team will be visiting Burundi to discuss detail with the government. It is not yet clear what technical or financial assistance will be required, but the UK stands ready to help. We continue to raise issues of justice and reconciliation with the Government, and to encourage them to tackle human rights abuses.

Canada

Eric Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions on the Canadian seal hunt he had with the Canadian Foreign Minister during their recent meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did not raise the Canadian seal hunt with the Canadian Foreign Minister. However, during an introductory telephone call on Monday 27 February 2006, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry raised the seal hunt with Canadian Minister of International Trade.

Correspondence

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letters from Mr. R. G. Ford, a constituent of the hon. Member for Shrewsbury, of 5 January and 25 February.

Kim Howells: UKvisas responded to Mr. Ford's letter of 5 January on 1 March, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) did not receive Mr. Ford's letter until 30 January.
	The FCO has not yet received Mr. Ford's letter of 25 February.

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, dated 20 January and 3 February requesting him to receive a delegation of Parliamentarians and lawyers representing the British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay;
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, requesting a meeting with Parliamentarians and lawyers regarding British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Jack Straw: I replied to a letter dated 19 January about Guantanamo Bay on 10 February. There is no record of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office receiving a letter dated 20 January on this subject. A letter dated 30 January on this subject was received and a reply issued on 7 March. The letter dated 3 February was answered on 1 March 2006.

Defence Export Services Organisation

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings officials in his Department have had with their counterparts in the Defence Export Services Organisation at the Ministry of Defence since 18 March 2003.

Douglas Alexander: A wide range of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials have contact with Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) officials. DESO officials also work in some of our missions abroad. There is no record of the number of meetings between FCO and DESO officials. Accurately calculating this number would not be possible.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with members of the World Bank on the activities of Gecamines in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The activities of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) state-owned mining company Gecamines (La Generate des Carrieres et des Mines) and other state-owned enterprises, form part of our regular discussions with members of the Congolese Government and relevant international organisations, including the World Bank. In all these discussions, we have made clear that corruption within state enterprises must be eradicated so that the DRC's mineral wealth can be exploited for the benefit of the whole population.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the co-operation provided by (a) Uganda and (b) Rwanda to the United Nations with regard to the illegal trade in minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: While there is no UN embargo on the trade of minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN Group of Experts on the DRC arms embargo has been investigating the links between resource exploitation and the import of weapons by armed groups and militias in DRC. They have sought information from the Governments of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda relating to cross-border trade in natural resources, but have not yet received the co-operation they hoped for.
	The Group of Experts met with representatives of all three regional governments to underline its continuing concerns. The UK, along with other UN Security Council (UNSC) members, has also urged governments at the highest level during UNSC missions to Central Africa to co-operate with the Group of Experts.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the (a) levels and (b) origin of (i) financial and (ii) logistical support provided to non-governmental armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Recent events indicate that militia groups operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo remain well-supplied. The most recent report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the UN arms embargo indicated that illegal exploitation of natural resources and cross-border trade contribute significantly to the funding of these armed groups.
	The Government strongly support the UN and EU arms embargoes. In November 2005, the UN Sanctions Committee agreed a list of individuals and organisations responsible for arms embargo violations as provided for in UN Security Council Resolution 1596. These violators are now targeted with asset freezes and travel bans. We continue to work with Security Council partners to improve implementation of the arms embargo.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the level of government control and accountability of the OKIMO mining authority in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The recent report by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Parliamentary Commission into contracts signed during the DRC's civil war (the Lutundula Commission) concluded that the gold production company OKIMO (Office des Mines d'Or de Kilo-Moto) had been poorly managed. As a result, the report said that OKIMO had not provided the revenue to the Congolese state that it should have.
	We, and international partners and non-governmental organisations, continue to press the Congolese authorities to ensure that the DRC's enormous mineral wealth be used transparently and efficiently for the benefit of the Congolese people.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of (a) the overall security situation and (b) the level of infrastructural readiness in Democratic Republic of Congo with regard to the proposed June date for elections; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains fragile. Despite the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUC)'s operations against armed groups, militias and ill-disciplined Congolese army soldiers continue to persecute civilians. We continue to support MONUC's robust approach to protecting civilians and tackling militias.
	The DRC is making progress towards holding elections by June 2006. The new constitution has been promulgated, and the electoral law has been agreed by Parliament. The size of the country and its lack of infrastructure bring immense logistical challenges, but the successful referendum on 18 December shows that these are surmountable. We and EU partners will continue to contribute logistical support through the UN and to press all parties to respect the transitional process, stick to the timetable and ensure the elections are free and fair.

Departmental Telephone Numbers

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office operate one 0845 telephone number for use by the general public. This number is used for travel advice enquiries. The number is 0845 850 2829.

Egypt

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the decision by the Government of Egypt to postpone local council elections for two years and (b) the possible impact this will have upon the transition to democracy in Egypt.

Kim Howells: The People's Assembly approved legislation on 14 February which postponed local government elections for two years, to allow efforts to reform local government on more democratic and decentralised principles. President Mubarak pledged to undertake political reform during his election campaign for the first ever multi-party presidential elections.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Spain about Gibraltar.

Douglas Alexander: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I are in frequent contact with our Spanish opposite numbers on a range of issues, including Gibraltar.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on negotiations over Gibraltar's constitution.

Douglas Alexander: Following the tabling of proposals to reform the 1969 Constitution by the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in December 2003, there have been two rounds of discussions between Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials and a cross-party Gibraltar delegation. Substantial progress has been made, although a number of outstanding issues remain. These remaining issues will be discussed at talks scheduled to take place in London on 1517 March.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much is allocated to promote tourism to Gibraltar in 200506; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Government does not provide funding for tourism to Gibraltar. This falls to the Government of Gibraltar, which has an official tourist office in London for this purpose.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens have taken up residency in Gibraltar in each of the last seven years.

Douglas Alexander: According to the Civil Status and Registration Office of Gibraltar, the numbers of UK citizens taking up residency in Gibraltar in each of the last seven years have been as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2005 360 
			 2004 241 
			 2003 154 
			 2002 145 
			 2001 158 
			 2000 113 
			 1999 104

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to improve indigenous industry on Gibraltar.

Douglas Alexander: None, this is a matter for the Government of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Gibraltar on increasing desalination capacity.

Douglas Alexander: None.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to encourage more flights between Gibraltar and the UK.

Douglas Alexander: None. The frequency of flights between Gibraltar and the UK is a commercial matter for the airline companies concerned.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent official visits have been made by (a) members of the Royal Family and (b) Ministers to Gibraltar.

Douglas Alexander: The most recent visit to Gibraltar by a member of the Royal Family was by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal in June 2004, and by a Minister in February 2005, when the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (right hon. Adam Ingram) visited.

Haiti

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations between the UK and Haiti.

Douglas Alexander: Historically there has not been a close relationship between the UK and Haiti, and direct UK interests in Haiti are limited. The British embassy in the Dominican Republic has responsibility for British interests in Haiti, and our ambassador to the Dominican Republic makes regular visits. The UK also maintains a locally engaged vice-consul in Port-au-Prince, although the consulate's public operations are currently temporarily suspended due to the security situation.
	The Government continue to support EU and UN efforts to alleviate the considerable levels of poverty that exist in Haiti and to bring security to the country.

High Commission Offices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings High Commission staff based in South Africa have had with government officials in Lesotho since the withdrawal of the High Commission in Lesotho.

Ian Pearson: Our High Commission staff in Pretoria have regular and frequent contact with government officials in Lesotho. Our High Commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland presented his credentials to the King of Lesotho on 20 October 2005. He was accompanied by the Deputy High Commissioner, Regional Affairs Officer and Press Officer. While there, they met the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers of Home Affairs, Finance and Agriculture, the Acting Foreign Minister and officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Finance Minister's office. On 17 November, the High Commissioner and Regional Affairs officer met the Ministers of Finance and Trade and the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. Staff from the High Commission also visited Lesotho in October 2005 and February 2006. The High Commissioner and his staff have also met Prince Seeiso, Lesotho's High Commissioner to London.

High Commission Offices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of the High Commission in (a) Lesotho and (b) Swaziland on relations between each country and the UK.

Ian Pearson: We continue to enjoy full diplomatic relations with the Governments of Lesotho and Swaziland. We have regular contact with the High Commissioners of Lesotho and Swaziland in London and, through our High Commission in Pretoria, with government and civil society in both countries. When our High Commissioner to Pretoria visited Lesotho to present his credentials on 20 October 2005, he discussed our bilateral relationship, debt relief to Lesotho and the situation in Zimbabwe with King Letsie III, and other members of the Lesotho Government. When he presented his credentials in Swaziland on 16 February 2006, he discussed with King Mswati III and Prince David, Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Acting Foreign Minister, the questions of human rights, governance, the rule of law in Swaziland and the situation in Zimbabwe and its impact on Swaziland.

Holy See

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on (a) refurbishment, (b) redecorations and (c) furnishings for (i) the embassy and (ii) the ambassador's residence to the Holy See in the past five years; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: In the past five years, 129,970.03 was spent on refurbishment of the embassy (this includes 100,975 to prepare the new offices on the Porta Pia compound); 13,888.88 was spent on redecoration of the old embassy offices; and 12,108.49 was spent on furnishings (10,054 for the new offices).
	In the past five years, 48,355.68 was spent on refurbishment of the residence; 26,150.32 on redecoration; and 86,964.37 on furnishings.

Holy See

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) agreements and (b) treaties exist between the United Kingdom and the Holy See; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: There are no formal bilateral agreements or treaties existing between the United Kingdom and the Holy See.

Holy See

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what undertakings were entered into by both parties following the restoration of full diplomatic representation between the United Kingdom and the Holy See in 1982; whether these have been varied by either party since; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: We have not entered into any binding undertakings with the Holy See since the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the UK and the Holy See in 1982.

Holy See

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what the costs were of (a) the lease of the ambassador's residence to the Holy See which is to be surrendered in April and (b) the lease of the new residence; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the size in square metres is of the residence of the ambassador to the Holy See which will be surrendered in April; and what the size of the new residence is.

Douglas Alexander: The rent for the residence of Her Majesty's ambassador to the Holy See under the lease to be surrendered in April is 11,020.22 per calendar month, rising to 11,262.66 in the final two months to reflect annual indexation. A short-term extension has been agreed at a rent of 25,000.00 per calendar month, the current market rate, pending relocation to a new permanent residence. The current residence is 823m 2 . We are currently looking for a new residence.

Iran

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he will be taking at the UN Security Conference following the confirmation that Iran is testing a cascade of 20 centrifuges at its Natanz pilot uranium-enrichment plant.

Kim Howells: At the request of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors, the IAEA Director General wrote to the President of the United Nations Security Council in February, reporting steps required of Iran by the board. Our aim in involving the Security Council is to reinforce the IAEA's authority, and to put the weight of the Security Council behind the board's requests. We will be in close contact with other Security Council members in the coming weeks.

Kenya

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the action taken by the Government of Kenya against the Kenyan media.

Ian Pearson: In a statement issued on 2 March, we, along with 26 nations, strongly condemned the raids on Kenya Television Network's studios and the offices of the Standard Group, as well as the closing down of their operations. This action constitutes an unacceptable attack on the freedom of the media.
	We call upon the Government of Kenya to issue an immediate and comprehensive statement about the incident and explain what actions it will take to investigate what eye-witness reports suggest were cases of assault, theft, unlawful destruction of property, kidnapping and harassment.

Liberia

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the humanitarian situation in Liberia.

Ian Pearson: Crimes were committed against all parts of society, although particularly against women and children, during the long civil war in Liberia. Hundreds of thousands fled. Around 250,000 Liberians have returned home since the beginning of October 2004, but some 60,000 remain in camps. Most are, or have been, supported by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
	Soldiers, many of whom were children, have been disarmed and demobilised (DD), and the rehabilitation and reintegration (RR) process continues. The Government strongly supports the DDRR process.
	Following the successful election process in Liberia, the UK is now looking to how best to target our assistance in 2006. We are starting to focus on justice sector reform and are currently working with the United Nations to deliver access to justice for all in Liberia.

Pakistan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the Pakistani authorities the progress made in recovering foreign nationals from madrassas in Pakistan.

Kim Howells: We already discuss this important issue with the Government of Pakistan. We welcomed the announcement made by President Musharraf in July 2005 to expel foreign students from Pakistani madrassas. We will continue to encourage him and the Pakistani Government to maintain their efforts in this respect and to promote a tolerant society, devoid of extremism. The UK continues to assist with this: education remains a core focus of our expanding development presence in Pakistan. Our ongoing discussions with the Pakistani authorities regularly include the role of madrassas and inter-faith relations.

People Trafficking

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Germany on a possible rise in prostitution and trafficking of women during the football World Cup.

Kim Howells: The matter was discussed at the Council of Justice and Interior Ministers on 21 February. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland) and my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Home Affairs (Tony McNulty) attended. EU member states are examining ways to tackle the potential rise in prostitution and trafficking of women problem through increased co-operation. As a first step the EU Presidency will prepare a paper for discussion at the next Council of Justice and Interior Ministers in April.

People Trafficking

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the possible impact on the trafficking of women of the incidence of major international (a) sporting and (b) other events.

Kim Howells: Given the clandestine nature of the crime, it is hard to assess the extent of trafficking of women, particularly in relation to specific events. However, the Government are committed to tackling the serious problem of trafficking wherever and whenever it occurs. We are working hard to improve our understanding of the problem and its relationship with other events.

Russia

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Russia on the exporting of arms where there is a risk that they might be used to commit human rights abuses.

Kim Howells: We have a wide-ranging dialogue with Russia both bilaterally and through the EU, on both human rights and export control issues. Most recently, a cross Whitehall delegation visited Moscow on 20 February to discuss building support for an international treaty on the trade in all conventional arms, which included how such an instrument might prevent transfers where there is a clear risk that they might be used to commit human rights abuses. These contacts will continue.

Somaliland

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of Somaliland.

Ian Pearson: My noble Friend, the Foreign and Commmonwealth Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, met the Somaliland authorities' Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Her Excellency Edna Adan, in London on 20 May 2005. Foreign and Commonwealth Officials visit Somaliland regularly, most recently Hargeisa from 31 January to 2 February 2006 to observe the operation of Parliament following the successful elections in Somaliland of September 2005. We have also had discussions with representatives of the Somaliland authorities, international community and civil society on practical issues of mutual interest. Our ambassador in Addis Ababa met with the Head of the Somaliland authorities His Exellency Dahir Rayale Kahin on 27 January.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution he is making to the process of Sri Lankan peace talks.

Kim Howells: The Government continue to work with EU and international partners in support of the Norwegian facilitation effort to strengthen the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). My hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Trade (lan Pearson), met representatives of the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Parliamentary parties during his visit to the island on 1920 January. He advocated to all the need for a constructive approach to the talks. We seek to maintain a regular dialogue with the Government of Sri Lanka and Tamil parliamentary representatives, and encourage all sides to improve implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement, and indeed the wider peace process.

Sudan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans have been presented to the UN Security Council regarding the (a) size and nature and (b) mandate of a UN mission to Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The UN Security Council has yet to be presented with any plans regarding the size and nature or mandate for a UN Mission in Darfur. On 3 February, the Security Council requested the UN Secretary-General to initiate contingency planning jointly with the African Union (AU), the Security Council, and the parties to the Abuja Peace Talks, including the Government of National Unity, on a range of options for a possible transition from the AU Mission in Sudan to a UN operation. This planning is in its early stages. The UK is contributing one military and one police planner to the UN team. Once the planning process is complete, options will be put before the UN Security Council.

Sudan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the UK's contribution to the planned UN mission to Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: My noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, have regular discussions about all aspects of the situation in Darfur with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development. There are also regular and comprehensive discussions between Government officials on how any transition from the African Union Mission in Darfur to a UN Operation would be managed and how we and other international partners could assist, including through provision of planning and logistical support.

Sudan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contingency plans have been drawn up by the United Nations for the planned handover of the African Union mission to Darfur to the United Nations; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: On 12 January 2006, the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) expressed its support, in principle, for a transition from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a United Nations operation. Consequently, on 3 February, the Security Council requested the Secretary General to initiate contingency planning on a range of options for a possible transition from AMIS to a UN operation jointly with the African Union, the Security Council, and the parties to the Abuja Peace Talks, including the Government of National Unity. The Secretary-General has initiated this planning, which is now in its early stages. An options paper has yet to be presented to the Council. A final decision by the AU PSC on whether to request a transition of the mission to UN command is expected on 10 March 2006.

Thailand

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) security and (b) political situation in Thailand; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: We monitor and regularly review security issues and significant political developments in Thailand, as in all countries. As far as the political situation is concerned, the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin has recently announced the dissolution of Parliament. A general election is set for 2 April. Opposition groups and the Government have organised several political rallies in Bangkok. All have passed off peacefully to date. We regularly update our Travel Advice to warn when and where the rallies are due to take place.
	On security, the main concern is the continuing violent insurgency in the far south of Thailand. Our Travel Advice recommends against all but essential travel to the four provinces affected.

Thailand

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) members and (b) representatives of the government in Thailand on the on-going protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had the opportunity for discussion with members, or representatives, of the Royal Thai Government on the on-going political demonstrations in Thailand. Officials in the embassy in Thailand, however, have regular discussions with the Royal Thai Government and others on this and a wide range of other issues.

Tibet

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the (i) use of torture and (ii) number of political prisoners in Tibet; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government are very concerned about torture and the detention of individuals on political grounds in Tibet. We have not commissioned research into incidences of torture in Tibet. We regularly raise our concerns about Tibetan prisoners, including at a high level. We strongly supported the visit to China by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, in November 2005. He subsequently said that he believed that torture, though on the decline, particularly in urban areas, remained widespread and that this was increasingly recognised by Chinese officials. We agree with this assessment and hope that the Chinese Government will consider carefully the rapporteur's recommendations when they issue, with a view to making a wholehearted effort to implement them.

Venezuela

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of Chinese-Venezuelan relations; whether he has received representations from Venezuela concerning oil export policies; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Bilateral relations between China and Venezuela are a matter for the two countries concerned. We support the development of a strong multilateral system of cooperation on all issues between all countries.
	We have received no recent representations from the Venezuelan authorities about oil export policies. However, we continue to have regular dialogue with Venezuela about energy related issues.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

International Tax Co-operation

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to implement Paragraph 64 of the Monterrey Consensus relating to international tax co-operation.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK plays a leading role in encouraging international cooperation on tax issues. HM Revenue and Customs is active in capacity building for developing economies in a range of tax-oriented programmes. This includes running two programmes of training for tax inspectors from Commonwealth countries each year, contributing to the large OECD outreach programme aimed at developing and transition economies as well as individual development projects. The UK participates in the newly structured UN Intergovernmental Commission on Tax and in the multilateral International Tax Dialogue, which brings together the work of the OECD, World Bank and IMF.

Poverty/Wealth Inequality

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of levels of (a) poverty and (b) wealth inequality in (i) India, (ii) Nigeria, (iii) Russia and (iv) China.

Gareth Thomas: The information requested is as follows.
	India
	The DFID office in India regularly assesses progress on poverty reduction and other Millennium Development Goals (MDG)s. These assessments are based on official Government of India statistics, but take into account concerns over the quality of data and independent assessments where appropriate.
	The most recent assessment of progress at the national level was undertaken in September 2004, and concluded that India is on track to meet the MDG target of reducing the proportion of people living on under a dollar a day by 2015. The estimate of poverty used in that assessment is based on the most recent large scale National Sample Survey of the Government of India, carried out in 2000. The actual proportion of the population living in poverty was assessed as 29 per cent. according to the national poverty line, and 35 per cent. according to the international ($/day) poverty line, or between 300 million and 360 million people in poverty, depending on which poverty line is used. Results from the next large-scale National Sample Survey are expected to be published in 2006 or 2007, at which point it will be necessary to update our assessment.
	Assessments of inequality in India carried out by DFID, have to date focused mainly on geographical inequality, which is acknowledged to be increasing and is high on the Indian government's agenda. The aggregate picture at national level masks wide variations between states and districts. Among the four focal states for direct DFID assistance alone, (Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa) estimates for 2000, using the national poverty line, range from 16 per cent. (Andhra Pradesh) to 47 per cent. (Orissa). There are similar disparities with respect to the other MDGs.
	An assessment of trends in income distribution was undertaken as part of an India case study on Operationalising Pro-poor Growth commissioned by DFID's central Policy Division in 2005. This concluded that, while there is evidence of growing inequality since the early 1990s, economic growth has been sufficiently strong to generate substantial poverty reduction in spite of this.
	Nigeria
	DFID monitors poverty and inequality measures and participates in initiatives to generate new knowledge on these matters in Nigeria.
	The most recently completed national exercises covering poverty and inequality in Nigeria is the Demographic and Health Survey 2003. This presents data on a range of social and socio-economic indicators, including: employment patterns, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health, fertility, and family planning, and is analysed by a range of categories including geographical zone, age, sex and wealth. One of the key findings is that while levels of poverty across much of Nigeria are high by any standard, they are significantly higher in northern Nigeria.
	DFID Nigeria is heavily involved in a range of ongoing initiatives at the national level that will generate important new knowledge on poverty and inequality. These include the National Poverty Assessment (NPA), the Nigerian Census 2006, and the national Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire.
	The NPA will provide a comprehensive analysis across five areas: poverty profile, inequality and poverty, the MDGs, health and education, and rural poverty. Key results include the following: absolute poverty (using a minimum calorific requirement of 2,900 calories per day for the average Nigerian) and $/day poverty lines suggest that between 5055 per cent. of Nigerians live in poverty; levels of income poverty at state level are close to 90 per cent. in some northern states and are generally significantly lower in the south; the Gini co-efficienta standard measure of income inequalityis close to 0.5, which is high by international standards and has recently been cited as the mark at which the poverty returns to growth tend towards zero; income inequalities within states are lowest in northern Nigeria and highest in certain southern regions (over 0.5).
	Russia
	In Russia, DFID relies on poverty and inequality assessments made by international organisations such as the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. DFID Russia provides assistance through the World Bank to help improve the quality of poverty assessments made by the Russian Government. In addition, DFID programmes in two regions; Leningrad and Nizhnyprovides funds to carry out (for the first time in Russia) household budget surveys to assess levels of regional poverty and help target scarce resources to address poverty and support to vulnerable groups.
	China
	Latest estimates derived from an ongoing DFID funded participatory poverty assessment (PPA) suggest that the number of people living below US$1 per day fell from 33 per cent. of the population in 1990 to about 10.4 per cent. of the population; around 135 million people, in 2004. China has therefore met the income poverty Millennium Development Goal but there remain pockets of extreme poverty, for instance, in remote mountainous areas, amongst ethnic minorities or within vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled. The PPA suggests that some 93 per cent. of the absolute poor are rural with another 6 per cent. being rural to urban migrants. About one in two poor people live in the Western provinces, which have 29 per cent. of the population. Chinese official estimates currently suggest 26 million people are living in poverty. However, this group is best characterised as extremely poor, as China's poverty thresholds are low both by international standards and in terms of adequate coverage of basic needs.
	Progress against non-income dimensions of poverty has been slower than might have been expected from China's average 9 per cent. growth rate since 1990. While China is ahead of target on access to universal primary education, progress on HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, environmental sustainability including access to water and sanitation, and gender equality is lagging. Continuing effort will still be required to meet child and maternal mortality goals if China is to remain on track to meet these.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Asylum Seekers (Legal Services)

Diane Abbott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much funding has been made available for legal services for women asylum seekers in the UK in the last three years for which figures are available.

Bridget Prentice: It is not possible to split asylum expenditure from overall expenditure in the immigration and asylum category. Also the gender of those seeking advice and representation does not form part of the eligibility criteria and so is not always recorded. Overall spending on immigration and asylum during the last three years in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, including administration 1 was as follows:
	1 Includes policy and operational resource costs attributed to immigration and asylum.
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200203 176.2 
			 200304 200.5 
			 200405 177.4 
		
	
	The figures do not include funding in Scotland as funding is approved separately by the Scottish Parliament.

Cemetery Safety

Richard Spring: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to her answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 110W, on cemetery safety, under what legal authority burial authorities test private cemetery memorials; what penalties are imposed on burial authorities which do not check the safety of memorials; and what percentage of burial authorities have not yet taken steps to check memorials.

Harriet Harman: Under the Local Authorities' Cemeteries Order 1977, local authorities have a general power to do whatever they consider necessary or desirable for the proper management, regulation and control of their cemeteries, and may put and keep in order any tombstone or other memorial.
	Such authorities also have duties under health and safety legislation to ensure the safety of their employees, the visiting public or contractors. Safe systems of work are an essential element. Failure to comply with statutory duties can lead to prosecution and a penalty.
	Information on the extent to which local authorities have so far undertaken the testing of memorials is not recorded centrally.

Census 1911

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 111W, on the 1911 census, whether there have been recorded instances in the last 30 years of an individual making representations against the publication of information contained in the 1911 census.

Harriet Harman: The 1911 census returns have not been published and the National Archives has not, therefore, received any representations from members of the public against their publication over the last 30 years. It is intended to release these records on the first working day of 2012, in accordance with long-standing Government policy.

Citizenship Curriculum

Edward Balls: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether she has plans to extend the citizenship curriculum in schools.

Jacqui Smith: The citizenship curriculum is very broad, giving teachers the scope to adapt the programme of study to respond to the needs of their pupils and local circumstances. Citizenship education helps pupils to develop a full understanding of their roles and responsibilities as citizens in a modern democracy. There are no plans to expand the national curriculum requirements for citizenship at this time.
	The Government's priority in citizenship education is to support teachers and to equip them with the skills and knowledge to deliver the subject well. We are doing this through both initial teacher training and continuing professional development initiatives. In parallel, in line with recommendations from Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate, we are commissioning a support programme (to be managed by the new Quality Improvement Agency) which will promote the best practice lessons from the successful Post 16 Active Citizenship Development Programme (which ends in March) to practitioners across schools, colleges, work-based and community-based training.

Departmental Telephone Numbers

Anne Milton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) her Department and (ii) public bodies which report to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs.

Harriet Harman: The Department, including its Agencies, has a total of eleven 0800 numbers; fifty four 0845 numbers and fifty three 0870 numbers. A list of the numbers is as follows.
	0800
	0800 0156510
	0800 3121159
	0800 3583506
	0800 3121159
	0800 7833314
	0800 0850982
	0800 4320432
	0800 0685029
	0800 0685038
	0800 0685048
	0800 0560559
	0845
	0845 6045935
	0845 3302964
	0845 3302962
	0845 3302963
	0845 3455303
	0845 3455484
	0845 4565150
	08454568770
	0845 4085302
	0845 4085303
	0845 4085314
	0845 4085315
	0845 4085316
	0845 4085317
	0845 4085318
	0845 6000730
	0845 6000710
	0845 6000736
	0845 9616473
	0845 6060766
	0845 3555567
	0845 3555155
	0845 4085304
	0845 4085305
	0845 4085306
	0845 4085310
	0845 4085311
	0845 4085312
	0845 4085313
	0845 4085322
	0845 6015889
	0845 4085319
	0845 6000722
	0845 6000788
	0845 6000629
	0845 6022064
	0845 6015889
	0845 7078607
	0845 6015935
	0845 7045007
	0845 6020012
	0845 6020015
	0845 6020013
	0845 6020016
	0845 6020014
	0845 6017124
	0845 6017136
	0845 6017125
	0845 6066035
	0845 6017134
	0845 6000490
	0845 3302900
	0845 7078607
	0845 7045007
	0870
	0870 2204100
	0870 2204101
	0870 2204102
	0870 2204103
	0870 2204104
	0870 2204105
	0870 2204106
	0870 2204107
	0870 2204108
	0870 2204109
	0870 2204110
	0870 2204111
	0870 2204112
	0870 2204113
	0870 2204114
	0870 2204115
	0870 2204116
	0870 2204117
	0870 2204118
	0870 2204119
	0870 2204120
	0870 2204121
	0870 2204122
	0870 2204123
	0870 2204124
	0870 2204125
	0870 2204126
	0870 2204127
	0870 2204128
	0870 2204129
	0870 2204130
	0870 2204131
	0870 2204132
	0870 2204133
	0870 2204134
	0870 2204135
	0870 2204136
	0870 2204137
	0870 2204138
	0870 2204139
	0870 2204411
	0870 2410109
	0870 9088060
	0870 9088062
	0870 9088063
	0870 9088069
	0870 0108318
	0870 0100299
	0870 0200026
	0870 0100910
	0870 0101116
	0870 0101117
	0870 0101221

Electoral Reform

James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility to voters of polling stations.

Harriet Harman: The Electoral Administration Bill will extend the current provisions for voters' accessibility to polling stations. It includes a duty on local authorities to undertake a review of polling places at least every four years to ensure that, as far as possible, polling stations are both convenient and accessible to the local community.

Freedom of Information

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the efficiency of the Information Commissioner's Office.

Harriet Harman: The Information Commissioner is an independent body created by statute. He has responsibilities for handling complaints made to him under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.
	The Commissioner is responsible for drawing up his corporate plan and business plan and for managing his resources to meet the targets in his plans. He is required to lay annually before each House of Parliament a general report on the exercise of his functions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998. The Commissioner is also required for each financial year to prepare a statement of account which is examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General and laid before each House of Parliament. The Commissioner as accounting officer is answerable to Parliament for the monies allocated to him. The ICO provides regular reports to my Department on its progress against targets in its business plan, and this provides a mechanism for regular reviews of the Office's efficiency.

Magistrates (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates in Lancashire are under (a) 30 and (b) 25 years, broken down by sex.

Harriet Harman: Out of a total of 1,116, the number of serving magistrates in Lancashire under (a) 30 and (b) 25 years, and broken down by sex are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Lancashire Male Female 
		
		
			 Under 30 2 2 
			 Under 25 0 0

Supreme Court

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what contingency plans there are for the site of the new Supreme Court should Westminster council refuse the planning application for the re-modelling of Middlesex Guildhall; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: It would be premature to anticipate a future planning decision by Westminster city council when the application for planning and listed building consent has not yet been submitted.

Ministerial Meetings

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the dates of the meetings held since 1st January 2005 between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department and representatives of the Information Commissioner's Office; where each meeting was held; who attended on each occasion; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: Since 1 January 2005 there have been numerous and recurrent meetings between both DCA Ministers and DCA officials and representatives from the Information Commissioner's Office. No central record is kept of these meetings and to create such a record would incur disproportionate cost.

Rape Trials

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many defendants to allegations of rape in the criminal courts were allowed personally to cross-examine the complainant in England in 2005.

Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.
	Section 34 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA), which came into force on four September 2000, prohibits a person charged with rape and other sexual offences from cross-examining the complainant (whether adult or child) in any criminal proceedings. Owing to this, no statistics are collected centrally, and the Government are not aware of any cases in which this prohibition has been breached.
	Legislative provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 1991 introduced a prohibition on unrepresented defendants personally cross-examining child witnesses in sexual offence cases (including rape) and cases of violence or cruelty. They came into force on one October 1992 (section 55(7)). This ban was extended to cases where the defendant was charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment or abduction by section 35 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA), which came into force on four September 2000.

Social Exclusion

Eric Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what funding streams her Department plans to finance in 200607 to tackle social exclusion.

Harriet Harman: Many of the Department's programmes will have some relevance to tackling social exclusion.
	In particular, a substantial part of the 195 million that will be spent on legal help through the community legal service in 200607 will fund advice services for those facing legal problems. Research over the past few years has shown that such services are very important in combating social exclusion.

Torture

Evan Harris: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reasons the final report of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was not published until 9 June 2005; to whom the report was circulated (a) within and (b) outside the Government prior to publication between July 2004 and June 2005; and what approval process applies to the publication of such reports under the European Convention.

Harriet Harman: The Committee's report dealt with its visit to the UK from 14 to 19 March 2004, to examine the treatment of detainees held under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. At the end of its visit, the Committee made an initial statement, to which the Government replied on 9 June 2004. The Committee presented its confidential formal report to the Government on 23 July 2004, and asked for a response by 22 October 2004. However, work on the response was interrupted by appeals by the detainees to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, and by the subsequent introduction of the Terrorism Act 2005. The report was considered by Ministers in the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office and by officials engaged in the preparation of the Government's response. The Government submitted its response to the Committee on 3 June 2005, with a request for immediate publication along with the Committee's report. This was in accordance with Article 11 of the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture, under which the Committee's reports are published at the request of states party to the Convention.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Coleraine Rail and Bus Station

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of trains arriving at and leaving from Coleraine Rail and Bus Station during 2005 did so within five minutes of the timetabled time.

Shaun Woodward: Information is not readily available to directly answer the question as punctuality data is held only in respect of end of line stations, and only in respect of whether or not trains arrive within 10 minutes of their timetabled arrival times. However punctuality information for the closest end of line stations at Londonderry and Portrush could be used as a proxy for times at Coleraine station.
	The percentage of trains arriving at the Londonderry and Portrush stations with 10 minutes of the timetabled time in 2005 was 68 per cent. and 90 per cent. respectively.

Cycling

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the change in the extent of cycling as a result of the various cycling initiatives undertaken in Northern Ireland since 2000.

Shaun Woodward: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 8 March 2006
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what has been the change in the extent of cycling as a result of the various cycling initiatives undertaken in Northern Ireland since 2000.
	As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
	As you may be aware, the Department for Regional Development, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Cycling Forum, published a Northern Ireland Cycling Strategy in June 2000. The strategy identified a range of measures to seek to improve conditions for cyclists with a view to establishing a pro-cycling culture. It set two challenging targets:
	1. to double the number of trips by cycle (from figures available in 2000) by 2005; and
	2. to quadruple the number of trips by cycle (from figures available in 2000) by 2015.
	To monitor progress, Roads Service introduced a Northern Ireland-wide cycle usage survey in 2000. Since then, automatic cycle counters have been monitoring cycle usage on a daily basis at 33 strategic sites, fourteen of which are located on the National Cycle Network throughout Northern Ireland. A further nine sites are located around the Greater Belfast area.
	The resulting figures, up to the end of 2004, are provided below and expressed as a percentage change in total average daily cycle flow at the sites indicated. Figures for 2005 are not yet available.
	
		Percentage
		
			 Period All sites (33) National cycle network sites (14) Greater Belfast sites (9) 
		
		
			 200001 -0.9 + 11.5 +7.0 
			 200102 -9.7 -6.3 +9.3 
			 200203 -3.2 +3.7 +17.8 
			 200304 +13.8 +34.4 +45.5 
		
	
	The Travel Survey of Northern Ireland, which is based on face-to-face interviews and personal travel diaries in around 1,000 households per year, also gives an indication of cycle usage. Using the information available from the survey the average mileage travelled by bicycle per person per year in Northern Ireland was estimated to be as follows:
	
		
			 Period Average mileage per person (Miles) 
		
		
			 19992001 19 
			 200002 17 
			 200103 14 
			 200204 17 
		
	
	I hope this information is helpful.

Departmental Spending

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how much his Department spent on items of art in 200405;
	(2)  when he will provide an answer to Question 23461, on departmental expenditure, tabled by the hon. Member for Monmouth on 28 October 2005.

Shaun Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office, excluding its agencies and NDPBs, did not procure any items of artwork, during the 200405 financial year.

Departmental Telephone Numbers

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him.

Peter Hain: The following telephone numbers for the public are administered by the Northern Ireland Office.
	
		
			 Telephone number Name 
		
		
			 0800 3160258 Family Care Line, Maghaberry Prison 
			 0800 1070345 Family care Line, Magilligan Prison 
			 0800 3160189 Family care Line, Hydebank Wood Young Offenders Centre and Prison 
			 0845 2470002 Northern Ireland Prisoner Release Victim Information Scheme

Employment Statistics

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) EU and (b) non-EU citizens were working in Northern Ireland in each of the last 30 years.

Angela Smith: The information on EU and non-EU citizens is not available; however, the Labour Force Survey can be used to provide estimates of the number of people in employment in Northern Ireland by respondent nationality. These estimates are only available on a consistent basis for European Union countries from 1994 onwards.
	
		Employment in NI by EU and non-EU nationality
		
			  EU nationality(25) Non-EU nationality 
		
		
			 1994 605,000 (26)3,000 
			 1995 625,000 (26)4,000 
			 1996 648,000 (26)3,000 
			 1997 672,000 (26)4,000 
			 1998 677,000 (26)4,000 
			 1999 684,000 (26)3,000 
			 2000 671,000 (26)2,000 
			 2001 696,000 (26)5,000 
			 2002 708,000 (26)5,000 
			 2003 736,000 (26)6,000 
			 2004 704,000 8,000 
			 2005 731,000 (26)6,000 
		
	
	(25) EU NationalityFigures for 1994 refer to EU12 countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and UK. Figures for 19952004 refer to EU15 countries: EU12 plus Austria, Finland and Sweden. Figures for 2005 refer to EU25 countries: EU15 plus Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
	(26) Estimates are based on small sample sizes and are therefore subject to a higher than usual degree of sampling variability. They should therefore be treated with caution.
	Source:
	Labour Force Survey, spring quarters.

Employment Statistics

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of people were employed in the (a) public and (b) private sector in each (i) ward, (ii) county and (iii) constituency in Northern Ireland in each of the last 20 years.

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.
	However, estimates of the number of employee jobs in the public and private sector by parliamentary constituency area are available from the Census of Employment on a biennial basis from September 1997 and the most up to date figures relate to September 2003. Estimates of the number of employee jobs in the public and private sector in each parliamentary constituency area in Northern Ireland between September 1997 and September 2003 are shown in the following table 1. A further breakdown of this information by county or ward is not readily available.
	
		Table 1: Number of employee jobs(27) in the public and private sector in each parliamentary constituency area in Northern Ireland between September 1997 and September 2003
		
			  September 1997 September 1999 September 2001 September 2003 
			 Parliamentary constituency area Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private 
		
		
			 Belfast east 13,660 24,752 13,049 26,267 13,250 27,376 13,769 26,133 
			 Belfast north 14,091 26,815 14,376 27,800 13,906 28,955 15,099 29,127 
			 Belfast south 32,174 48,611 28,703 55,193 29,409 60,759 31,057 63,406 
			 Belfast west 14,408 16,108 14,317 17,089 14,882 17,516 16,787 16,891 
			 East Antrim 4,780 15,684 4,734 16,767 4,742 17,033 4,921 15,516 
			 East Londonderry 7,956 18,870 8,177 20,671 8,372 21,078 9,189 21,557 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 9,757 19,868 9,991 21,698 9,427 22,797 9,762 24,328 
			 Foyle 13,002 24,065 13,620 24,928 13,821 25,242 14,859 25,821 
			 Lagan Valley 9,594 22,365 10,197 23,987 9,509 26,316 10,151 26,483 
			 Mid-Ulster 5,327 15,473 5,475 17,296 5,680 18,574 5,893 20,172 
			 Newry and Armagh 12,403 17,971 12,442 20,346 12,907 22,209 13,789 23,670 
			 North Antrim 8,856 24,208 9,186 26,077 8,818 26,750 9,631 27,819 
			 North Down 5,602 15,104 5,655 15,963 5,925 15,930 6,304 16,271 
			 South Antrim 10,564 24,110 9,877 26,390 11,488 27,564 12,056 27,645 
			 South Down 6,753 15,464 7,070 17,128 7,046 17,779 7,665 17,582 
			 Strangford 8,343 16,893 8,776 18,096 9,356 18,227 9,822 18,359 
			 Upper Bann 10,433 27,865 10,728 29,053 11,354 28,566 12,496 28,624 
			 West Tyrone 9,232 14,297 9,115 15,283 9,320 15,650 9,988 16,203 
			 Northern Ireland 196,935 388,523 195,488 420,032 199,212 438,321 213,238 445,607 
		
	
	(27) Figures exclude agriculture but include animal husbandry service activities and hunting, trapping and game propagation.
	Source:
	Census of Employment, DETI

Housing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on repairs and maintenance of domestic properties by (a) Northern Ireland housing associations on average and (b) the Northern Ireland Housing Executive during 2005.

David Hanson: The information is not available for the calendar year 2005 but for the financial year, 200405. The figures were as follows:
	Northern Ireland Registered Housing Associations repair and maintenance costs 129 million for 26,289 properties, an average of 489 per dwelling.
	The Northern Ireland Housing Executive repair and maintenance costs 84.7 million for 98,000 properties, an average of 864 per dwelling.

Housing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many empty houses owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive were demolished in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: The table details the numbers of demolished domestic properties for each of the last three financial years.
	
		
			  Number of demolitions(28) 
		
		
			 200304 1,284 
			 200405 1,348 
			 200506(29) 666 
		
	
	1 This includes properties acquired by NIHE within redevelopment areas.
	(28) As at December 2005.

Housing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the improvement works to Housing Executive properties at Ballygallin Park, Coleraine which were scheduled for the financial year 200607 are expected (a) to begin and (b) to be concluded.

David Hanson: The Housing Executive is at present examining two options to take forward the development of Ballygallin Park, Coleraine. A decision on the nature and content of the scheme will be made in the next 23 months.

Housing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland Housing Executive tenants were prosecuted for non-payment of rent in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The following table details the number of prosecutions initiated by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Notice seeking possession (through magistrates court) 
		
		
			 200001 1,999 
			 200102 2,594 
			 200203 3,885 
			 200304 3,925 
			 200405 2,699

Invest NI

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps Invest NI are taking to raise the level of local employment in consultancy (a) in general and (b) in relation to energy issues.

Angela Smith: Invest NI's direct support for business is targeted at firms in the manufacturing and internationally-traded services sectors and is aimed at helping them create sustainable employment opportunities through becoming more entrepreneurial, innovative and internationally-focused. Where the agency needs to employ consultants to assist with its work, it is normal practice for such appointments to be made using a competitive tendering process managed by the Central Procurement Directorate of the Department of Finance and Personnel who may seek expressions of interest from both Northern Ireland and external consultants.
	Where energy issues are concerned, Invest NI influence the provision of energy consultancy in Northern Ireland through its support for the Carbon Trust. The Carbon Trust is a UK-wide programme and commissions energy consultancy centrally from a pool of approximately 450 registered with the Energy Institute for the Carbon Trust. In the past year in excess of 300 commissions for energy advisory and technical appraisals were issued for Northern Ireland with around 25 per cent. of these having been serviced by Northern Ireland based consultants.
	The Carbon Trust encourage all Northern Ireland based energy consultants to attend their free technical training events and will be holding a briefing session to help them meet the standards expected by the Carbon Trust and the businesses seeking support.

Janine Murtagh

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what issues were raised in the letter to the Health Minister from the coroner investigating the death of Janine Murtagh in the Royal Victoria hospital on 18 November 2002.

Shaun Woodward: HM Coroner raised 13 issues in his letter of 22 November 2004 to the Health Minister. These were:
	1. Whether there is a need for further training of all surgical, anaesthetic and theatre staff in relation to the use of emergency theatres. Does the existing protocol provide sufficient clarity?
	2. Whether there is a need for a more formal structure governing contact with theatres in relation to theatre availability and a recording of any such contacts to include what was discussed, by whom, and any decisions made.
	3. The training needs of locum surgical staff.
	4. Whether it should be a requirement for a doctor who is called by nursing staff to examine a patient whose condition has given rise to some measure of concern, to consult with the senior nurse on duty in the ward and any family members who are present at the time.
	5. Whether, under present arrangements, consultants are kept adequately informed about such interventions, assessments subsequently made and any changes in the condition of their patient.
	6. Whether it is appropriate for a staff nurse to be able to discontinue patient observations without consulting anyone else.
	7. The role of a Ward Sister and whether she is always deemed to be a member of the team responsible for each patient in her ward.
	8. Whether there is any confusion amongst surgical and anaesthetic staff as to the chain of responsibility for a patient at the various stages of their treatment and the circumstances in which responsibility changes.
	9. Record keeping.
	10. The efficacy of a written patient care management plan.
	11. Transfer arrangements between the Royal Maternity hospital and the Royal Victoria hospital.
	12. Whether there is a need for a formal recording of a notification of bed availability by the Bed Manager, to include the name of the person to whom it was made and an acknowledgement by that person of the notification. Should the notification by the Bed Manager be to the surgeon concerned or any member of the ward staff?
	13. Whether there is substance in the allegations of the consultant general surgeons who signed the letter to the Chief Executive of the Royal Group of hospitals of obstruction getting gravely ill patients into theatre for necessary surgery.

Janine Murtagh

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the remit was of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority review into the death of Janine Murtagh.

Shaun Woodward: The terms of reference of the independent review group were:
	To consider the report submitted by HM coroner to the Health Minister;
	To consider the report submitted by the Royal Hospitals Trust;
	To review the wider issues involved; and
	To make recommendations as to the good practice that needs to be disseminated to all HSS trusts in Northern Ireland.

Licensing

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what account the consultation on the New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs (200611) will take of the recent consultation on liquor licensing reform; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: Both the development of the New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs and its current consultation have taken due account of the Liquor Licensing Review consultation and this continues. I anticipate that the final New Strategic Direction document, to be launched in May, will bear due testimony to that.

Modern Apprenticeships

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many modern apprenticeships were taken up in each (a) ward, (b) county and (c) constituency in the last year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: Information relating to Modern Apprenticeship take up in Northern Ireland is not available at Local Government District or parliamentary constituency level. The following tables detail the number of young people who entered a Modern Apprenticeship by County, and by Town for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005.
	
		Modern apprenticeships by county
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 County Antrim 872 
			 County Armagh 100 
			 County Down 1,188 
			 County Fermanagh 169 
			 County Londonderry 466 
			 County Tyrone 451 
			 Belfast(29) 698 
			 Unknown 18 
			 Total: 3,962 
		
	
	(29) Figures for Belfast have been provided separately as it falls into more than one county
	
		Modern apprenticeships by town
		
			 Area Total 
		
		
			 Antrim 92 
			 Armagh 100 
			 Augher 1 
			 Aughnacloy 5 
			 Ballycastle 28 
			 Ballyclare 45 
			 Ballymena 213 
			 Ballymoney 55 
			 Ballynahinch 59 
			 Banbridge 66 
			 Bangor 112 
			 Belfast 698 
			 Bushmills 9 
			 Caledon 4 
			 Carrickfergus 76 
			 Castlederg 27 
			 Castlewellan 20 
			 Clogher 8 
			 Coleraine 73 
			 Cookstown 73 
			 Craigavon 181 
			 Crumlin 22 
			 Derry 246 
			 Donaghadee 20 
			 Downpatrick 68 
			 Dromore 46 
			 Dungannon 148 
			 Enniskillen 169 
			 Fivemiletown 4 
			 Hillsborough 12 
			 Holywood 17 
			 Larne 75 
			 Limavady 41 
			 Lisburn 121 
			 Maghera 23 
			 Magherafelt 76 
			 Newcastle 34 
			 Newry 377 
			 Newtownabbey 134 
			 Newtownards 176 
			 Omagh 142 
			 Portrush 2 
			 Portstewart 7 
			 Strabane 39 
			 Unknown 18 
			 Total 3,962

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the 10 highest paid chief commissioner and equivalent posts in non-departmental public bodies in Northern Ireland in 2005; and what the remuneration was of each.

Peter Hain: As at 1 April 2005, the 10 highest remunerated public appointees at chief commissioner, chair or equivalent position, for which the Secretary of State and his ministerial team have responsibility, were as follows:
	
		Remuneration entitlement at 1 April 2005
		
			 Position Amount () 
		
		
			 Assembly Ombudsman for NI and NI Commissioner for Complaints 116,515 
			 Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland 116,515 
			 Chief Commissioner, Planning and Water Appeals Commissions 93,483 
			 Chief Inspector, Criminal Justice Inspection 89,210 
			 Commissioner for Children and Young People 80,869 
			 Chief Commissioner, Equality Commission for NI 76,156 
			 Chief Electoral Officer 72,822 
			 Chief Commissioner, NI Human Rights Commission (30) 
			 Chair, Parades Commission for NI(31) 53,000 
			 Chair, NI Policing Board(31) 51,725 
		
	
	(30) Vacant but advertised in the range 5570,000.
	(31) Part-time appointments.

Northern Ireland Railways

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions new train sets operated by Northern Ireland Railways broke down while in service during 2005.

Shaun Woodward: The number of occasions new train sets operated by Northern Ireland Railways broke down while in service during 2005 was 74.

Patient Costs

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make the costs involved in using a continuous positive airway pressure machine at home refundable to the patient.

Shaun Woodward: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines are used by people suffering from sleep apnoea to ensure they continue to breathe while asleep. The machines are supplied and maintained free of charge in patients' homes. The running costs involved in using a CPAP machine at home are negligible and not refundable. This is consistent with current practice on the use of a range of devices requiring electricity that are supplied by hospitals for domestic use. There are no plans to change this.

Primary Schools

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are being considered at rural based primary schools in Northern Ireland for the safe passage of children to and from schools.

Angela Smith: The Government are committed to making the journey to school safer for children. There are various measures specifically designed to ensure the safe passage of children at rural based primary schools. These include the provision of school crossing patrols where particular traffic hazards have been identified; the promotion of a Safer Routes to School initiative, to encourage walking, cycling, greater use of public transport and car sharing for the journey to and from school; the use of road signage to warn drivers of the potential of encountering children in the road ahead, going to and from school; and the provision of a comprehensive road safety education programme across all schools in Northern Ireland each year, to promote the teaching of road safety teaching and training by teachers on a regular structured basis. All of these measures are focused to meet the particular needs of schools, including those in rural areas.

Tourism

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is taking to promote the North Coast resorts of (a) Portstewart, (b) Portrush, (c) Portballintrae, (d) Castlerock and (e) Benone.

Angela Smith: Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) is committed to working with strategic partners and tourism providers to develop an internationally competitive and sustainable tourism product on the North Coast. The development and promotion of the tourism potential on the North Coast will take place in the context of the Tourism Strategic framework for Action 200407 and the Causeway Coast and Glens Tourism Masterplan.
	Currently the NITB is implementing recommendations from within the prioritised actions of the Masterplan. A key recommendation is the implementation of the Causeway Coastal Route which has been identified as a primary promotional message/key motivator to attract visitors to Northern Ireland and specifically to retain them along the North Coast and wider region.
	This touring route will direct visitors to the towns of Portstewart and Portrush while also offering them the opportunity to visit Portballintrae, Castlerock and Benone.
	The Causeway Coastal Route has been included in all marketing initiatives for 2006.

Tourism

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what budget bids the Northern Ireland Tourism Board made to support regional tourism organisations; and if he will make a statement on the withdrawal of EU funding for regional tourism organisations.

Angela Smith: Regional Tourism Organisations are the predecessors of the proposed new Regional Tourism Partnerships (RTF), and are currently funded by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board under the European Union's Peace II Programme. As this funding will not be available after 1 April 2006, NITB submitted a budget bid for an additional 1.5 million per annum (in addition to its approved budget) for a two year period to support RTPs. NITB's bid was unsuccessful however they have reprioritised core activity and ring-fenced 500,000 per annum in 200607 and 200708 for regional tourism delivery. This funding will be channelled through the RTPs.

United Hospitals (Patient Complaints)

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in the United Hospitals area have been (a) suspended, (b) dismissed and (c) given formal warnings as a result of complaints from patients in each of the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: In 2005 two members of staff were dismissed from United Hospitals HSS Trust and two others were given formal warnings following complaints made by patients. There were no suspensions, dismissals or warnings in 2004 and 2003 as a result of patient complaints.

Waiting Lists/Times

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting times at accident and emergency departments were in each of the acute hospitals in Northern Ireland during 2005.

Shaun Woodward: The information requested is not available centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Waiting Lists/Times

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in average waiting times experienced at the Accident and Emergency department in Causeway hospital has been between January 2005 and January 2006.

Shaun Woodward: The average waiting time at the Accident and Emergency department in Causeway hospital every month from January 2005 to January 2006 is shown in the following table.
	The waiting time is measured from the time a patient arrives in the Accident and Emergency department to the time the patient is seen by a clinician.
	
		
			   Month Average waiting time at AE in Causeway hospital from patient arrival to being seen by a clinician 
		
		
			 January 2005 1 hour 24 minutes 
			 February 2005 1 hour 22 minutes 
			 March 2005 1 hour 21 minutes 
			 April 2005 1 hour 11 minutes 
			 May 2005 1 hour 05 minutes 
			 June 2005 1 hour 03 minutes 
			 July 2005 1 hour 07 minutes 
			 August 2005 1 hour 06 minutes 
			 September 2005 55 minutes 
			 October 2005 1 hour 04 minutes 
			 November 2005 1 hour 01 minute 
			 December 2005 56 minutes 
			 January 2006 1 hour 06 minutes 
		
	
	Source:
	Causeway Health and Social Services Trust

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many officers there were in each local authority dealing with antisocial behaviour in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what the budget was for tackling antisocial behaviour in each local authority in England in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005;
	(3)  in what ways local authorities are able to supplement the work his Department is doing to tackle antisocial behaviour;
	(4)  what support his Department has given to local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: All of the 351 crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRP) in England and 22 community safety partnerships (CSP) in Wales have responded positively to our seed funding for antisocial behaviour co-ordinators in each CDRP area. Many areas have now gone further and are using funding from a range of sources to establish and support antisocial behaviour teams. Findings from the antisocial behaviour unit's second national survey of CDRPs in 2005 indicated that 60 per cent. of those CDRPs who responded had more staff than a year ago. Tackling antisocial behaviour is a cross-departmental issue and many Government Departments contribute to this agenda.
	A wide range of funding streams across Government have a positive impact on tackling antisocial behaviour. For example, Neighbourhood Renewal programmes which focus on the most deprived areas and give practitioners and local communities a real opportunity to turn their neighbourhoods around; the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) through their work on schools and parenting contribute to preventing problems escalating and ensuring families get the support they need.
	The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and their work in tackling litter and fly-tipping which can often blight neighbourhoods where antisocial behaviour and crime can take hold; and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) who provide the opportunity to divert young people from the destructive and damaging involvement in antisocial behaviour. The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) also contributes to ensure a swift and effective criminal justice system for dealing with the perpetrators of antisocial behaviour activity.
	In relation to specific Home Office funding to tackle antisocial behaviour in the last two financial years we have allocated 25,000 to every CDRP in both England and Wales to fund an antisocial behaviour co-ordinator. This amounts to 9.4 million per annum, the funding for 200506 is now part of the Safer, Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF) and this arrangement will continue for the next two years (200607 and 200708). In order to deal with antisocial behaviour problems effectively, housing providers, local authorities, the police, the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service, and other relevant agencies need to play a full role.
	Local authorities drive many aspects of our work including tackling graffiti, removing abandoned vehicles, dealing with noise nuisance and many antisocial behaviour housing issues. In order to help local agencies tackle antisocial behaviour, we have provided guidance and support to help them to target resources and use appropriate tools and powers to protect the public and ensure that antisocial behaviour is tackled, not tolerated.
	The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 has been fundamental to our work and has changed the culture of public services and protected our communities. However, while attitudes are shifting, the public's concern is not yet adequately reflected in the priorities of all our services. The Respect Programme will now take this further so that local services are organised so that they respond swiftly and effectively to the problems that communities face today. People need to see and feel that a difference can be made.

Antisocial Behaviour

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the average time taken was to obtain an antisocial behaviour order in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average cost was of an antisocial behaviour order in the last period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what percentage of the total number of antisocial behaviour orders granted in Swindon have been issued to (a) men, (b) women, (c) people aged under 21 years and (d) people aged under 18 years.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not available centrally. A 2004 Home Office study into the cost of obtaining an ASBO reports that costs have significantly reduced. An earlier review of costs published in 2002 (known as the Campbell report) indicated that the cost of obtaining an ASBO averaged 4,000 to 5,000. The later study showed that the costs of obtaining an ASBO had fallen to an average of 2,500. Costs have fallen as a result of more efficiency as practitioners become more familiar with ASBOs, and the introduction of orders on conviction, which removes the need for separate hearing. The study found that, overall, police and local authorities using ASBOs find them cost-effective. The cost to communities and to society generally of not taking action against persistent antisocial behaviour is much higher. Information on the length of time taken to obtain an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) is not collected centrally.
	Immediate respite from antisocial behaviour can be obtained by the use of interim and without notice orders. Orders on conviction and county court orders can avoid the need for a separate court hearing, and can therefore speed up the process. Four ASBOs have issued in the Swindon borough council area: three to males under the age of 18 years, and one to a female aged over 21 years.

Assisted Dying

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of (a) assisted suicide and (b) euthanasia have been reported in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Number of defendants proceeded against magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for aiding or abetting suicide
		
			  Proceeded against Found guilty 
		
		
			 2000 4 2 
			 2001 2 2 
			 2002 2 4 
			 2003 3 1 
			 2004 3 2

Asylum Seekers

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the provision of dental services for women asylum seekers in detention centres.

Tony McNulty: Any person detained in a removal centre has access to dental services as and when required. These services are provided by outside professionals and detainees may be treated on site, where such facilities exist for this purpose, or externally as appropriate.

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on which local authority boundaries crime and disorder reduction partnerships are based in two-tier local government areas.

Hazel Blears: Section five (4) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 sets out the local government areas on which CDRPs are based. In two-tier areas CDRPs are organised on district council boundaries.

Crime Statistics

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes were committed in each county of the East of England region in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the following table.
	
		Eastern regionviolent crime recorded by the police
		
			 Police force area 199798 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire 4,476 
			 Cambridgeshire 4,202 
			 Essex 6,016 
			 Hertfordshire 2,995 
			 Norfolk 3,570 
			 Suffolk 3,105 
		
	
	
		
			 Police force area 199899(32) 19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire 5,668 6,121 6,339 6,724 
			 Cambridgeshire 6,213 7,056 7,426 8,584 
			 Essex 9,443 11,480 12,232 13,703 
			 Hertfordshire(33) 3,884 4,471 5,366 5,775 
			 Norfolk 6,189 7,094 6,469 6,931 
			 Suffolk 4,365 5,915 6,993 8,128 
		
	
	(32) Numbers affected by changes in the counting rules and coverage of recorded crime. Data not comparable with earlier years.
	(33) Boundary changes came into effect in 19992000.
	
		
			 Police force area 200203(36) 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire 9,560 10,316 11,787 
			 Cambridgeshire 14,174 15,185 14,758 
			 Essex 24,583 28,782 28,135 
			 Hertfordshire 9,083 13,972 18,691 
			 Norfolk 11,862 12,819 14,133 
			 Suffolk 8,786 10,460 11,227 
		
	
	(34) Numbers affected by the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards which came into effect in 200203. Data not comparable with earlier years.

Crime Statistics

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsolved crimes were recorded by police forces in each county of the East of England region in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the form of a table showing crime recorded and crime detected in each financial year from 199798 to 200405. As offences detected in the current year may have been initially recorded in an earlier year it is not possible to determine the numbers of undetected crime in a particular year.
	
		Eastern RegionRecorded and detected crime by police force area
		
			  199798(35) 199899(36) 19992000 200001 
			  Offences Detections Offences Detections Offences Detections Offences Detections 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire 44,622 15,65 49,076 16,386 53,607 13,313 49,566 13,602 
			 Cambridgeshire 57,657 15,857 67,256 19,236 68,722 17,395 64,337 15,325 
			 Essex 87,569 24,617 95,797 27,447 10,2777 30,503 10,6768 27,708 
			 Hertfordshire 48,770 16,336 49,309 16,839 65,015 14,153 64,009 15,259 
			 Norfolk 52,176 18,611 57,129 20,895 59,387 18,063 57,240 14,786 
			 Suffolk 34,413 13,545 39,908 16,470 43,355 15,575 44,317 15,562 
		
	
	
		
			  200102 200203(38) 200304 200405 
			  Offences Detections Offences Detections Offences Detections Offences Detections 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire 52,210 12,871 60,895 15,637 62,382 14,648 57,973 16,228 
			 Cambridgeshire 69,559 15,625 85,029 18,701 79,960 18,393 73,659 17,213 
			 Essex 11,3150 29,567 13,6181 37,244 14,4512 39,748 13,4789 37,036 
			 Hertfordshire(37) 67,37 16,427 86,396 19,914 95,117 24,115 97,065 28,595 
			 Norfolk 58,923 14,711 71,270 17,220 69,846 18,441 66,376 18,741 
			 Suffolk 50,492 16,426 50,315 17,093 53,443 17,445 52,101 16,723 
		
	
	(35) Offences excludes the offence of criminal damage of 20 and under Offences Detections Offences Detections Offences Detections Offences Detections
	(36) Numbers affected by changes in the counting rules and coverage of recorded crime. Data not comparable with earlier years.
	(37) Boundary changes came into effect in 19992000
	(38) Numbers affected by the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards which came into effect in 200203.
	Data not comparable with earlier years.

Electronic Monitoring

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances have been reported of (a) the location of a person subject to active tracking being lost and regained and (b) of tracking equipment being tampered with in each of the regions for which Group 4 Securicor has contracts for providing electronic monitoring services since 1 April 2005.

Fiona Mactaggart: Satellite tracking is being piloted in three areas: Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Hampshire. Since the start of the pilots in September 2004, there have been no cases of active tracking. Group 4 Securicor provide tracking services in two of the three pilot areas (Greater Manchester and Hampshire). The number of equipment tampers in each of these areas is set out in the table.
	
		
			 Area Tampers 
		
		
			 Greater Manchester 40 
			 Hampshire 23

Electronic Monitoring

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what levels of satisfaction with training provided by Group 4 Securicor have been reported in each of the regions for which the company has contracts for providing electronic monitoring services since 1 April 2005.

Fiona Mactaggart: This service level applies to special technical training provided by a contractor to Home Office officials or criminal justice agencies. It does not include internal staff training. Since 1 April 2005, Group 4 Securicor have provided training for two sessions related to an electronic monitoring data access service. The service level requires that 80 per cent. of those trained rate the training as satisfactory or better. Group 4 Securicor received a satisfactory rating from 100 per cent. of those trained in the first session, and from 75 per cent. of those trained in the second session.

Electronic Monitoring

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cumulative period is of electronic monitoring service breaks since 1 April 2005 in each of the regions for which Group 4 Securicor has contracts for providing electronic monitoring services.

Fiona Mactaggart: This service level relates to periods of time when the contractors need to test, maintain and upgrade their systems. During these periods a back-up system is made operational to ensure that curfewees are continuously monitored and the electronic monitoring service remains unaffected. On each occasion the contractor must seek approval from the Home Office before proceeding. During the period 1 April 2005 to 28 February 2006, Group 4 Securicor used a total of three hours and eight minutes for this purpose. The process is carried out through a central IT system and not by individual regions.

Extraditions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK citizens have been extradited to the United States under the Extradition Act 2003.

Andy Burnham: We do not keep a permanent central record of the nationalities of those extradited from the UK, because the UK, like the US, has always been prepared to consider the extradition of its own citizens. Total numbers extradited to the United States under the Extradition Act 2003 to date are 12. The figure does not include requests granted by Ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, who have devolved powers to make or grant requests.

Extraditions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many United States citizens have been extradited to the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Andy Burnham: No central record is kept as to the nationality of a person whose extradition has been sought. Statistical information is only available since 1998. Since then, to date, the number of those extradited by the US to the UK (of all nationalities) is as follows:
	
		
			  Number extradited 
		
		
			 1998 5 
			 1999 2 
			 2000 2 
			 2001 3 
			 2002 3 
			 2003 2 
			 2004 4 
			 2005 1 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures do not include extraditions to Scotland and Northern Ireland, where Ministers have devolved powers to make extradition requests.

Neighbourhood Policing

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the implementation of neighbourhood policing teams to be completed in each police force.

Hazel Blears: The Government is working closely with ACPO to ensure that, by 2008, every area in England and Wales will benefit from dedicated, visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing. A programme to deliver on this commitment is well under way, and some areas have already moved to a neighbourhood policing approach. The timing of the full implementation of neighbourhood policing teams will be different for every force. There is no one size fits all approach to neighbourhood policing, and each force must develop, tailor and test an approach which will be appropriate to local issues and circumstances.

Neighbourhood Policing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the average population to be covered by neighbourhood policing teams.

Hazel Blears: The Government are committed to ensuring that, by 2008, every area in England and Wales will benefit from dedicated, visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing. The size of the neighbourhood which will be served by a neighbourhood policing team will vary depending on local needs and circumstances. A neighbourhood will not mean the same to an inner-city resident as to someone living in a predominantly rural area.
	Typically though, we would expect it to cover one or two council wards. The important thing will be that each neighbourhood will have a dedicated team, and that residents will know their local officers and be able easily to contact them.

Parenting Orders

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting orders have been applied for to date.

Fiona Mactaggart: Youth offending teams and local education authorities were given power to apply for parenting orders through the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. From the available data, 41 parenting orders were made on application by youth offending teams (between April 2004 and 31 July 2005) and none were applied for or made on application by local education authorities (between September 2004 and 31 July 2005).

Police

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations his Department has received on the activities of Newham council's park police.

Hazel Blears: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 94W.

Police

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of how many officer hours it took on average to process an arrest in (a) England and (b) Humberside in the latest period for which an estimate is available; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Data on the average amount of time taken to process an arrest is not collected centrally. Such data would be of minimal value as each arrest is subject to the individual circumstances of each case, the demands on the custody suite and local operational priorities. The process of arrest is subject to statutory requirements and procedures which provide safeguards and protections for the public and require police accountability. These powers and procedures are subject to ongoing consideration ensuring that important balance is maintained.

Police

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been killed in each of the last three years by the police (a) during police action, (b) as a result of police pursuits and (c) in police custody.

Hazel Blears: Responsibility for collating, reporting and publishing statistics on deaths during or following police contact lies with the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Any inquiries regarding deaths should be made to the chair of the Commission.

Prisons

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison inmates have diagnosed personality disorders; and how many prison inmates are receiving treatment for personality disorders.

Fiona Mactaggart: This information is not available in the form requested. The Office for National Statistics survey of mental health in the prison population in 1997 found that 78 per cent. of remanded and 64 per cent. of sentenced male prisoners and 50 per cent. of all women prisoners had personality disorder.

Prisons

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners diagnosed with (a) mental health problems, (b) personality disorders, (c) learning disabilities and (d) communicative disorders there are in each prison in England.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information is not available in the form requested. A survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales in 1997, by the Office for National Statistics, showed that 90 per cent. of prisoners have at least one significant mental health problem, including personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence.

Prisons

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the prison population had (a) learning disabilities, (b) mental health problems and (c) learning difficulties and mental health problems in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: In 1997 the Office for National Statistics undertook a survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales. It reported both on prevalence of mental disorder and on the intellectual functioning of remanded and sentenced prisoners. Further information is available in the report of this survey: Psychiatric Morbidity Amongst Prisoners in England and Wales (1998) a copy of which is available in the Library and on the ONS website.

Prisons

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to pay prisoners the same amount for education as they are paid for work; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The policy on prisoners pay supports the sentence planning section of the Offender Assessment System (OASys) which requires establishments to allocate activities in accordance with identified individual needs and objectives, thus targeting activities to those who will derive the most benefit from them. Each prison has devolved responsibility to enable them to set local pay rates over and above a national minimum. A local pay scheme must not provide disincentives to activities which are a part of a prisoner's sentence plan; this applies equally to education or employment. Rates of pay will therefore vary between prisons and activities, as governors use their discretion to balance regime activities.

Prisons

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on the Assisted Prisoners' Visits Scheme in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what the budget was for the scheme in each year.

Fiona Mactaggart: Assisted Prison Visits Scheme expenditure is in the following table.
	Expenditure includes bank charges, special printing translation costs etc. directly related to the scheme.
	Total number of visits paid in 200405 was 61,988.
	
		
		
			  Budget Expenditure 
		
		
			 200001 1,986,000 1,964,345 
			 200102 1,825,000 1,762,048 
			 200203 1,796,000 1,712,783 
			 200304 1,892,920 1,822,499 
			 200405 1,947,000 1,870,386

Prisons

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) adult prisoners and (b) prisoners in young offender institutions were (i) in full-time employment, (ii) self-employed, (iii) unemployed and claiming benefits, (iv) in full-time education and (v) on a (A) Government and (B) industry training course at time of sentencing in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: There is no routinely collected data on the employment status of prisoners at the time of sentence. However, the resettlement surveys conducted in 2001, 2003 and 2004 asked a representative sample of prisoners approaching release what they were doing in the four weeks immediately before custody. Results from these figures are in the following table. No details on the type of courses attended are available from these surveys.
	
		Employment status in the four weeks immediately prior to custody: Figures from the 2001, 2003 and 2004 resettlement surveys(39) -- Percentage
		
			 Adult prisoners 2001 2003 2004 All three years 
		
		
			 ETE in the four weeks before custody  
			 Working full-time(40) 25.4 24.8 21.2 23.8 
			 Working part-time(41) 4.0 3.6 2.3 3.3 
			 Doing temporary/casual work 1.7 1.4 1.6 1.6 
			 In full-time education/training(42) 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.5 
			 In part-time education(43) 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.3 
			 Unemployed, seeking work 26.2 23.4 26.3 25.3 
			 Unemployed, not seeking work 14.5 14.5 14.2 14.4 
			 Looking after home or family 1.9 1.1 1.5 1.5 
			 On a Government training scheme 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.5 
			 Retired from paid work 0.8 0.2 0.8 0.6 
			 Long-term sick or disabled 14.7 14.0 16.7 15.1 
			 Living off crime 7.6 13.7 10.7 10.6 
			 Other 2.0 2.1 3.3 1.9 
			 All 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
			  
			 Number of cases in survey 1369 1306 1298 3973 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			 Young prisoners 2001 2003 2004 All three years 
		
		
			 ETE in the four weeks before custody  
			 Working full-time 22.9 18.8 22.8 21.5 
			 Working part-time 3.2 4.7 3.8 3.9 
			 Doing temporary/casual work 2.9 2.8 2.9 2.9 
			 In full-time education/training 4.5 2.5 5.3 4.1 
			 In part-time education 1.1 0.8 0.0 0.6 
			 Unemployed, seeking work 29.5 29.3 25.1 28.1 
			 Unemployed, not seeking work 17.6 19.6 15.8 17.7 
			 Looking after home or family 0.5 1.7 0.3 0.8 
			 On a Government training scheme 1.1 1.7 0.6 1.1 
			 Long-term sick or disabled 2.7 2.8 4.1 3.1 
			 Living off crime 10.6 13.5 17.3 13.7 
			 Other 3.5 1.9 2.0 1.9 
			 All 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
			  
			 Number of cases in survey 376 362 342 1080 
		
	
	(39) As this is a sample rather a census, the results are subject to sampling error.
	(40) 30 or more hours a week.
	(41) Less than 30 hours a week.
	(42) 16 or more hours of classwork/instruction per week.
	(43) Less than 16 hours of classwork/instruction per week.
	Source:
	RDS NOMS.

Prisons

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to prevent the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the prison system.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Prison Service makes it clear that proselytising, for whatever faith, is not allowed, and procedures are in place to tackle it. The Service is working on initiatives to prevent the radicalisation of prisoners, including:
	improvements in information gathering to develop a better knowledge of radicalisation of prisoners;
	rigorous criteria for selecting chaplains of all faiths, including for imams, formal endorsement by the candidate's faith community through the Prison Service Muslim Adviser; and
	work with local Muslim communities to develop resettlement programmes.

Prostitution

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress his Department has made in tackling prostitution; how many people have been prosecuted for (a) living on immoral earnings, (b) exercising control over a prostitute, (c) keeping a brothel and (d) offences under sections 22, 23 and 28 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: Following the wide ranging review of the issues associated with prostitution, the Government in January of this year published a co-ordinated prostitution strategy which sets out a framework to challenge the existence of prostitution.
	This aims to disrupt street markets through a sustained enforcement of the laws on kerb crawling and sexual exploitation, to tackle off street prostitution and to address routes out for those women involved, by ensuring that their health, housing and other needs are addressed, and that swift access to drug treatment and rehabilitation is available.
	The figures for prosecutions under Sections 22, 23, 28 and 33 and Sections 30 and 31 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 can be found in the following table.
	
		Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for selected offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, England and Wales 19972004(44)
		
			  Proceeded against 
		
		
			 Offence: Procuring a female for immoral purposes  
			 Section of Sexual Offences Act 1956: 22 and 23  
			 1997 11 
			 1998 13 
			 1999 5 
			 2000 7 
			 2001 10 
			 2002 3 
			 2003 4 
			 2004 10 
			   
			 Offence: Causing or encouraging prostitution etc. of a girl under 16 years 
			 Section of Sexual Offences Act 1956: 28  
			 1997  
			 1998  
			 1999 1 
			 2000  
			 2001 1 
			 2002 1 
			 2003  
			 2004  
			   
			 Offence: Man living on earnings of prostitution or exercising control over prostitute 
			 Section of Sexual Offences Act 1956: 30 and 31  
			 1997 56 
			 1998 50 
			 1999 48 
			 2000 35 
			 2001 34 
			 2002 47 
			 2003 41 
			 2004 42 
			   
			 Offence: Keeping a brothel  
			 Section of Sexual Offences Act 1956: 33  
			 1997 31 
			 1998 20 
			 1999 44 
			 2000 19 
			 2001 12 
			 2002 14 
			 2003 11 
			 2004 26 
		
	
	(44) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.
	Notes:
	1. The information in table is taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and gives the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for selected offences under the sexual offences act 1956.
	2. The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Source:
	RDSOffice for Criminal Justice Reform

Public Order

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to tackle antisocial behaviour in Swindon; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: There are a number of approaches currently under way in seeking to step up the drive in tackling and preventing antisocial behaviour in Swindon. Swindon has made good use of the range of tools and powers available to them to tackle antisocial behaviour. Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) are used at an early stage to try to divert an individual away from further antisocial behaviour.
	The success of this approach has meant that only a small number of those individuals on ABCs have been subject to an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO). Dispersal Orders have also been used, however only where a designated area could be policed appropriately. Swindon has also made excellent use of Crack House Closure powers to tackle drug related antisocial behaviour.
	In addition to the use of powers a number of campaigns have been conducted to tackle antisocial behaviour. These include: Operation Graffitia multi-agency initiative using Home Office Action Area funding of 40,000 to tackle environmental crime and specifically the issue of graffiti focussing on West Swindon. Operation Crackdowna publicity campaign to highlight the effects of substance misuse on an individual and in the community.
	Anti-begginga campaign to educate the public about where their money that they give to beggars goes, namely Class A drugs, and that most of the street beggars actually do have homes. Operation Pinehurst Safe and Cleana multi-agency operation to tackle community antisocial behaviour and environmental crime in Pinehurst. There are several multi-agency environmental operations planned for different areas in Swindon throughout the year.
	In terms of preventative work, the Youth Offending Service leads on a number of projects including Positive Activities for Young People, Positive Futures programmes and Splash, all of which aim to divert young people away from crime and antisocial behaviour. Action Area funding of 25,000 is also used to work with those families engaged in antisocial behaviour in the community. There are two types of intervention: a group based programme, facilitated through New College Swindon and an intensive one to one support programme for families who need help.

Shellfish Toxins (Use of Animals)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2006, Official Report, column 1282W, on shellfish toxins (use of animals), how many protocols for the detection of toxins in shellfish intended for human consumption were assigned a substantial severity limit in 2004; how many animals these involved; what adverse effects (a) were anticipated and (b) occurred; and on what basis he concluded that the cost benefit assessment required by section 5(4) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 justified the granting of a project licence in those cases where substantial suffering was anticipated.

Andy Burnham: Home Office records show that all protocols for the detection of toxins in shellfish intended for human consumption were assigned a substantial severity limit. In total there were three such protocols for the detection of paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) and three for the detection of diarrheic shellfish poison (DSP).
	A total of 6,468 animals were used in the relevant procedures during 2004. The predicted adverse effects associated with PSP are that all animals are subdued after injection. Animals injected with samples not containing toxin will frequently then go on to behave in an apparently normal fashion after a few minutes. If toxin is present, clinical signs of sudden, uncontrolled muscle contractions (which can include jerking movements of the limbs) will occur after a period of time related to the level of toxin present in the sample. Death usually occurs two or three minutes after the onset of initial signs and is due to respiratory muscle paralysis. For PSP testing the predicted adverse effects reflect the actual adverse effects seen. The predicted adverse effects associated with DSP are that animals are subdued after injection. Some animals will appear to recover and behave normally after a period of time that can range form a few minutes to around one hour. Behaviours associated with pain can be observed within this period. Additional adverse effects sometimes seen include diarrhoea and piloerection. Animals injected with samples that contain toxin may, in addition, show signs of torpor, cyanosis of the extremities, a drop in body temperature and weakness/inability to maintain balance, prostration, coma, or may die. These signs are seen within five hours of initial injection, and animals showing typical signs of DSP are humanely killed. Additionally, an atypical DSP response has been seen in some animals within 30 minutes of initial injection, whereby animals show convulsions, spasms of the back legs, prostration, and respiratory difficulties including gasping for breath. Signs may be severe and lead to death or less severe and animals may recover. The adverse effects predicted within the protocols in place reflected the actual adverse effects seen. Section 5.4 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act requires that the Secretary of State shall weigh the likely adverse effects on the animals concerned against the benefits likely to accrue as a result of the programme to be specified in the licence. In the case of testing for the presence of marine biotoxins, the benefits of such testing are the protection of public health by ensuring that consumers are not exposed to biotoxins present in molluscan shellfish. European legislation sets the definitive test for detection of the DSP and PSP groups of marine biotoxins as a mouse bioassay. These toxins pose a significant risk to human health because they can cause serious disease, and in the case of PSP, death, in people. The Home Office is committed to replacement of both bioassays when non-animal tests have been developed and validated to a level that ensures the protection of human health. To this end inspectors within the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate are working actively with other UK agencies, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, EU regulators and other expert groups in order to progress the early adoption of alternative tests in the United Kingdom.

Young Offenders

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to prevent young offenders from re-offending; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have made good progress on reducing juvenile re-offending given the problems young offenders pose and face. Latest available figures show reconviction rates of young offenders fell by 2.4 per cent. between 2000 and 2003, once the changes in offender characteristics between cohorts had been adjusted for.
	The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is pursuing a comprehensive programme to improve practice and performance on the ground and strengthen disposals. The programme includes improvements to practice through the publication and use of guidance on Key Elements of Effective Practice; improvement to youth offending team performance; improving the knowledge and skills of the youth justice work force; developing IT programmes to support youth justice services; extension and enhancement of the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme; and a focus on developing access to key services that can address the risk factors associated with young people offending including education, training and employment, accommodation, substance misuse and health services.
	The YJB is also taking the lead on the resettlement of young people leaving custody and on 20 February, with a range of agencies, the YJB published Youth Resettlement: A Framework for Action setting out a co-ordinated approach to improving the resettlement of young offenders.

HEALTH

Agenda for Change

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trusts in England have introduced the pay package Agenda for Change.

Liam Byrne: All national health service organisations in England are implementing agenda for change and the vast majority have completed assimilation and are now looking to use the transformational elements to improve services to patients.

Agenda for Change

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trusts that have not yet implemented Agenda for Change plan to do so; and whether there are plans to backdate the payments in such trusts.

Liam Byrne: Agenda for change is a collective agreement that all national health service employers within the United Kingdom are obliged to implement. Under the terms of the agreement, pay will be backdated to October 2004, regardless of when staff are assimilated.

Age-specific Medical Information

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to provide age-specific medical information for children in order to improve the management of (a) asthma and (b) other long-term conditions.

Liam Byrne: Age specific medical information, suitable for both health professionals and patients, is available from the Prodigy website at www.prodigy.nhs.uk This includes specific information on the management of asthma in children.

Alternative Medicine

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to regulate herbal medicines and acupuncture under the Health Act 1999.

Jane Kennedy: We will introduce the legislation required for the statutory regulation of acupuncture and herbal medicine once the necessary preliminary work and consultations have been completed. We are in the process of setting up a stakeholder working group to take forward preparations for regulation.

Alzheimer's Disease

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Alzheimer's sufferers in the severe stages of the disease are currently prescribed Ebixa; and what treatment options are available to these patients were Ebixa to be withdrawn from use.

Liam Byrne: We have no figures on the number of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Information on the number of prescriptions for Memantine Hydrochloride, which is the generic or medical name for Ebixa, is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Items Cost () 
		
		
			 1998 1 50 
			 1999 13 1,127 
			 2000 14 1,218 
			 2001 4 654 
			 2002 319 21,347 
			 2003 7,624 636,283 
			 2004 17,726 1,378,882 
		
	
	A range of social and psychological interventions may be used for the treatment of people with severe Alzheimer's disease. In addition, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is currently working on a guideline for health and social care interventions in dementia which is due to be published in draft form in April 2006.

Alzheimer's Disease

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ensure that effective drug treatment will be available for people in the early and late stages of Alzheimer's disease following recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence that currently available drugs for mild and severe Alzheimer's should be withdrawn.

Liam Byrne: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) consultation on revised draft guidance on the drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease ended on 13 February. NICE are now in the process of considering the responses. Until NICE issue final guidance to the national health service, the original 2001 guidance on anti-dementia drugs remains extant.

Alzheimer's Disease

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government is taking to help those suffering with Alzheimer's disease.

Liam Byrne: The Department's policy on the treatment and support of those with Alzheimer's disease is stipulated in the mental health standard of the older people's national service framework.
	This policy has been reinforced with the publication of our service development guide, Everybody's Business, which outlines the key components of a comprehensive older people's mental health service including dementia care.

Antenatal Classes

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of pregnant women who were unable to access free antenatal classes in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by primary care trust area.

Liam Byrne: None. The provision of free antenatal classes is a matter for local national health service maternity care providers and primary care trusts.

Benzodiazepine Addiction

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support is available for involuntary addicts withdrawing from benzodiazepine addiction.

Caroline Flint: Support for benzodiazepine withdrawal can be provided in a range of settings. Persons with dependence on benzodiazepines can access services in primary and secondary care. In primary careprescribing, counselling, advice and/or psychological therapy is available, and secondary care services are also available, including specialised mental health services and specialised drug services.
	Voluntary organisations and charities also run a range of services, from advice and information services, through to residential rehabilitation, which can support those withdrawing from benzodiazepine addiction and in remaining drug free.
	These support services are used to meet a range of needs and are usually not dedicated exclusively for supporting benzodiazepine withdrawal.

Benzodiazepine Addiction

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department issues to general practitioners on the prescription of benzodiazepine.

Caroline Flint: Since 1988, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) has issued the following advice to general practitioners on the prescription of benzodiazepines:
	Benzodiazepines are indicated for the short-term (two to four weeks) relief of anxiety that is severe, disabling or subjecting the individual to unacceptable distress, occurring alone or in association with insomnia or short-term psychosomatic, organic or psychotic illness.
	The use of benzodiazepines to treat short-term 'mild' anxiety is inappropriate and unsuitable.
	The Chief Medical Officer most recently communicated with all doctors on this issue through his January 2004 'CMO Update', reminding doctors that benzodiazepines are only indicated for short-term treatment, reiterating advice set out in the Department's clinical guidelines'Drug misuse and dependenceguidelines on clinical management' (1999) 1 . The full update is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/07/01/76/04070176.pdf
	In 2005, responding to advice from professionals in the substance misuse field, and consistent with the recommendations made in Department's clinical guidelines, the Department amended prescribing regulation to allow diazepam to be dispensed in instalments for the treatment of drug addictionto assist doctors in prescribing benzodiazepines more safely.
	1 Guidelines on Clinical ManagementDepartment of Health, The Scottish Office Department of Health, Welsh Office Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland (1999) The Stationery Office

Benzodiazepine Addiction

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to establish more specialist benzodiazepine dependence treatment services on withdrawal clinics.

Caroline Flint: There are currently no specific plans to establish further specialist benzodiazepine dependence treatment services. Most support services meet a range of needs and are usually not dedicated exclusively for supporting benzodiazepine withdrawal.
	Support for benzodiazepine withdrawal can be provided in a range of settings. People with dependence on benzodiazepines can access services in primary and secondary care. In primary careprescribing, counselling, advice and/or psychological therapy is available, along with secondary care services, including specialised mental health services and specialised drug services.

Blood Donation

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what her assessment is of the policy of the National Blood Service that prohibits gay and bisexual men from donating blood;
	(2)  whether the Department has estimated the change in the amount of blood that would be donated if the National Blood Service removed its ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.

Caroline Flint: We have a duty to ensure that any rules applied to blood donation by the National Blood Service (NBS) which is part of NHS Blood and Transplant, achieve a balance between risk reduction and security of supply. The latest statistics available indicate that gay and bisexual men are proportionately at a relatively higher risk of carrying HIV and a number of other sexually transmitted infections, many of which can be transmitted by blood.
	The self exclusion criterion concerning gay and bisexual men has been reached following analysis of the data by the Joint UK Blood Transfusion Services and National Institute of Biological Standards and control professional advisory committee (JPAC), and the advisory committee on the microbiological safety of blood, tissues and organs for transplantation. The decision by the NBS is based on scientific grounds. The NBS donor exclusion criteria is reviewed annually in the light of updated epidemiology evidence.
	We are unable to assess the impact to the blood supply if the self exclusion criteria was removed for gay and bisexual men. This is because some men will be aware of the donor exclusion criteria and self exclude themselves without reporting to blood donor sessions.

Breast Cancer

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts offer facilities for the rapid diagnosis of HER2 breast cancer.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) on 16 February 2006, Official Report, column 2293W.

Breast Cancer

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts offer Herceptin for the treatment of early stage HER2 breast cancers.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect information on the number of primary care trusts offering Herceptin for the treatment of early stage breast cancer.

Breastfeeding (Targets)

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what national targets she has set for increasing the percentage of mothers breastfeeding.

Caroline Flint: The priorities and planning framework (PPF) 200306 required an increase in breastfeeding initiation rates by 2 per cent. points per year, with a particular focus on women from disadvantaged groups.
	The national standards, local action health and social care standards and planning framework 200506 to 200708 states that performance against existing commitments from the PPF need to be met and maintained in the new planning round. In addition, to reduce inequalities in health outcomes all primary care trusts should work in partnership with local authorities to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates targeting those with the highest need.

Cancer

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients normally resident in West Lancashire have been treated for cancer in the past 12 months.

Liam Byrne: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the data for 200405.
	
		All diagnoses count of finished consultant episodes and patients for cancer in the West Lancashire Primary Care Trust 200405
		
			 Finished consultant episodes Patient counts 
		
		
			 2,588 1,215 
		
	
	Notes:
	Finished consultant episode (FCE):
	1. An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
	All diagnoses count of episodes:
	2. These figures represent a count of all FCE's where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (seven prior to 200203) diagnosis fields in a hospital episode statistics (HES) record.
	Diagnosis (primary diagnosis):
	3. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 200203) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	Secondary diagnoses:
	4. As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 200203) secondary diagnosis fields in HES that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care.
	Patient counts:
	5. Patient counts are based on the unique patient identifier HES identification (HESID). This identifier is derived based on patient's date of birth, postcode, sex, local patient identifier and national health service number, using an agreed algorithm. Where data are incomplete, HESID might erroneously link episodes or fail to recognise episodes for the same patient. Care is therefore needed, especially where duplicate records persist in the data. The patient count cannot be summed across a table where patients may have episodes in more than one cell.
	Ungrossed data:
	6. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data, that is the data is ungrossed.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre

Care Homes

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care home inspections were carried out by the Commission for Social Care Inspection between April and December in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005.

Liam Byrne: I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the numbers of care home inspections carried out by CSCI for the years requested were as follows:
	from the 1 April 2004 to 31 December 2004, CSCI carried out 28,225 inspections of care homes in England; and
	from 1 April 2005 to 31 December 2005, CSCI carried out 28,725 inspections of care homes in England.

Cash Support

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what interest rate is charged to (a) NHS authorities and (b) Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust for cash support; what the rate was in each of the past four years; and what estimate she has made of how much will be charged in (i) 200506 and (ii) 200607;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of how much interest would be paid for cash support by Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust in (a) 200506 and (b) 200607 based on bank rates of interest.

Liam Byrne: The NHS Bank operates a system of cash brokerage between strategic health authorities (SHAs). The NHS Bank is able to provide cash support to SHAs in need by taking cash from other SHAs that have surplus cash. Until this year, the principle was that any cash support received or provided would be returned in the following year, but there was no interest charge.
	To encourage good financial management, the NHS Bank agreed that for cash brokerage in 200506 an interest payment will be required from SHAs receiving cash brokerage, and they have agreed to pay interest to those SHAs providing cash brokerage.
	The charge on SHAs receiving cash brokerage is 10 per cent. and the interest to SHAs providing brokerage will be between five per cent, and 20 per cent. depending on the time of year when the cash is offered. No estimate has been made of the level of interest paid on any cash brokerage received next year.
	The NHS Bank operates a cash brokerage system at SHA level. Any arrangements with national health service trusts or primary care trusts are for individual SHAs to manage. Information on what has been agreed locally is not held centrally.

Child Protection

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what types of services provided by the NHS are required to make checks against the Protection of Children Act list of the people employed in them.

Liam Byrne: Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are mandatory throughout the national health service for all eligible new staff. Eligible staff means all staff with access to patients in the normal course of duties. Employers are required to request the CRB to carry out an additional check against List 99 and the Protection of Children Act (POCA) list of persons barred from working with children, specifically for staff applying to work in posts subject to the POCA definition of working with children, as amended by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.

Choose and Book System

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will hold an inquiry into the Choose and Book computer system; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: There are no plans to do so. The National Audit Office's (NAO) report on its current value for money study of procurement, implementation and the general progress of the national programme for information technology in the national health service will include all aspects of the choose and book electronic booking service.

Chronic Fatigue Services

Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the economic effects of the early diagnosis and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Liam Byrne: We have made no assessments of the economic effects of early diagnosis and treatment for those with myalgic encephalomyelitis.
	All health professionals recognise the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, indeed this is a key feature of the national service framework for long-term conditions. However, some neurological conditions, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, can present a particular challenge for early identification as they lack clear, simple diagnostic features. Such conditions will require further investigations and clinical tests before a final diagnosis is made.

Dentistry

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the (a) adult and (b) child population of (i) York and Selby Primary Care Trust area, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) England was registered with an NHS general dental practitioner in (A) 1997 and (B) each year since then.

Rosie Winterton: The table provides information on the estimated percentage of the populations of Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT), North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Health Authority (HA) and England registered with general dental services and personal dental services dentists as at 30 September each year since 1997.
	
		Percentage
		
			  Under 18 18 plus 
		
		
			 Selby and York PCT 
			 1997 77 51 
			 1998 72 47 
			 1999 71 47 
			 2000 76 50 
			 2001 74 51 
			 2002 73 51 
			 2003 80 58 
			 2004 64 42 
			 2005 72 48 
			  
			 North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire HA 
			 1997 70 52 
			 1998 66 47 
			 1999 67 48 
			 2000 69 49 
			 2001 68 48 
			 2002 67 47 
			 2003 67 48 
			 2004 63 44 
			 2005 65 45 
			
			 England   
			 1997 66 53 
			 1998 61 45 
			 1999 62 45 
			 2000 63 46 
			 2001 63 45 
			 2002 63 45 
			 2003 63 45 
			 2004 61 43 
			 2005 62 44 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The drop in registrations between September 1997 and September 1998 is mostly attributable to the reduction in re-registration period from two years to 15 months.
	2. The percentages of the population registered with a dentist (or registration rate) have been estimated by including patient registrations in the area of the dentist, that is according to the postcode of the dental surgery and not the patient's address. Therefore, the registration rates for some areas may be affected by some patients receiving dental treatment in a different area from the one in which they live.
	Source:
	National Health Service Health and Social Care Information Centre

Dentistry

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent NHS general dental practitioners there were in the York and Selby Primary Care Trust area in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Information on a full-time equivalent basis is not available. Dentists are able to vary the amount of hours they work and to vary their national health service commitment. Many dentists do some private work.
	Numbers of dentists with a general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract are shown in the table.
	
		General Dental Services (CDS) and Personal Dental Services (PDS) Numbers of dentists within Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) as at 30 September each year
		
			  Selby and York PCT 
		
		
			 1997 105 
			 1998 113 
			 1999 117 
			 2000 117 
			 2001 128 
			 2002 131 
			 2003 136 
			 2004 136 
			 2005 148 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data includes all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, for example data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS.
	2. Dentists include principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
	3. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. PCT areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Dentistry

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness with which (a) Eastleigh and Test Valley South primary care trust and (b) Hampshire and Isle of Wight strategic health authority has spent funding for improving access, choice and quality in NHS dentistry.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness with which Eastleigh and Test Valley South primary care trust and Hampshire and Isle of Wight strategic health authority has spent funding for improving access, choice and quality in national health service dentistry. It is the responsibility of local NHS organisations to determine how best to use their resources to meet the needs of their local community.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on IT for NHS dental services over the last three years in support of (a) Connecting for Health and (b) the National Programme for IT in the NHS; and what future spending is planned over the next three years.

Rosie Winterton: Expenditure for the first three years of the dental component of the national programme for information technology in the national health service, which is being delivered by NHS Connecting for Health, an agency of the Department, is expected to have totalled around 500,000 by the end of March 2006. Future spending plans are currently under review.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts are inviting dentists to sign memoranda of agreement instead of contracts.

Rosie Winterton: Departmental guidance to primary care trusts (PCTs) makes clear that contracts need to be signed by 31 March 2006 to enable dentists to continue providing services from 1 April 2006.
	The Department has not received any information from PCTs to indicate that they are seeking to use memoranda of agreement in place of contracts.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a forecast of the cost to patients of one standard NHS dental filling (a) before and (b) after 1 April 2006.

Rosie Winterton: Under the existing regulations and statement of dental remuneration, the cost varies between 6.20 and 22.24 for restorative work on a single tooth. This is dependent on the number of surfaces of the tooth involved and the type of material used to restore the tooth.
	It is not possible to draw direct comparisons between current national health service dental charges and the new system that is being introduced from 1 April 2006. Current charges are for individual items of treatment, whereas the new charges will be for overall courses of treatment. A course of treatment that includes the restoration of any tooth or number of teeth, irrespective of the number of surfaces, complexity of the filling or the material used, will carry a charge of 42.40. This charge will cover not just the filling but any other treatment provided, together with an examination, diagnosis, for example x-ray, scale and polish, if appropriate, and any oral health advice.

Dentistry

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts are not offering children only NHS contracts to general dental service dentists under the post 1 April 2006 contract.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The information requested is not held centrally.
	Under The National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005 and The National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) Regulations 2005, dentists will no longer be able to accept children as national health service patients on condition that their parent or parents agree to private treatment. Where a dentist is currently treating children only under the NHS, it will be for the primary care trust (PCT) to decide whether to allow this to continue.
	Where a PCT wishes to commission services from dentists that offer NHS services to both children and adults, and a current dentist is unwilling to provide services on this basis, the PCT will use the funding for that dentist to commission services from other dentists.

Diabetic Nurses

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the guidelines are on the provision of specialist diabetic nurses for (a) adults and (b) children.

Rosie Winterton: The national service framework for diabetes: delivery strategy states
	diabetes services need to ensure that there are enough staff with appropriate skills who are well-led, supported, and deliver high-quality care.
	It is up to local diabetes teams based on the needs of their local population to decide how best these teams are constructed to provide local services for both adults and children.

Domiciliary Oxygen

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation was conducted with (a) service users and (b) health professionals, prior to the recent change in domiciliary oxygen provision.

Jane Kennedy: For many years, patient organisations and health care professionals have sought improvements in the domiciliary oxygen service. The Department asked the Royal College of Physicians to lead a multi-disciplinary working group, which reported in 1999, to review the clinical assessment and prescribing of oxygen therapy in the home. Following a further review, we announced plans for change in June 2003. Organisations representing patients contributed to the specification for the new serviceas patients want better access to modern equipment that can help improve their quality of life, including portable systems that enable them to leave the home. These are important features of the new service.
	Health care professionals also contributed to the development of the new service specification, which supports clinical best practice guidelines on the assessment and prescribing of oxygen therapy in the home.

Domiciliary Oxygen

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the system of domiciliary oxygen supply has been reformed.

Jane Kennedy: The service has seen little change in nearly 60 years and patients and health care professionals have been pressing for a modernised home oxygen service for some timeone that keeps pace with clinical practice and improves patients' access to equipment that can improve their quality of life. The new service supports clinical best practice in the assessment and prescribing of oxygen therapy in the home and makes available a much wider range of up-to-date equipment to patients.

Domiciliary Oxygen

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish the advice given to community pharmacists with regard to the running down of stocks of oxygen prior to 1 February 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Communications about cylinder stocks held by community pharmacies are matters for the individual community pharmacy providing an oxygen service and the company supplying the pharmacy with oxygen cylinders.

Domiciliary Oxygen

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2006, Official Report, column 170W, on home oxygen therapy, what assessment she made of the feasibility of using pharmacists to supply additional equipment to home oxygen users.

Jane Kennedy: The tender documents issued for the new service in October 2004 set out the requirements for the provision of oxygen equipment. Like others, pharmacy companies were free to submit bids for delivery of that service for assessment and evaluation.

Domiciliary Oxygen

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what use has been made of the six month transition period for the new domiciliary oxygen supply contract.

Jane Kennedy: The transition period is in two stages. In stage one, from July 2006 to 31 January 2006, new suppliers continued with arrangements for ordering new equipment and the recruitment and training of staff. They also worked with the national health service in planning the transfer of patients to new suppliers and in this phase, over 30,000 patients highly dependent on the use of oxygen at home, transferred prior to the new contract start date of 1 February 2006. The second stage, which started on 1 February 2006, is a six-month programme to transfer remaining patients to the new suppliers. That programme is continuing.

Dr. Foster

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Department paid to the health care information company Dr. Foster in each of the last three financial years.

Liam Byrne: The Department does not hold a central contracts database but is able to provide the following analysis for 200405 and 200506:
	In 200405, the Department held eight contracts with Dr. Foster on which it spent 4,043,144.
	In 200506, the Department held 11 contracts, two of which were carried forward from 200405, and has incurred expenditure of 2,182,794 to date.

Expert Patients Programme

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect on costs in other parts of the NHS of the Expert Patients programme.

Liam Byrne: The expert patients programme (EPP) has been evaluated throughout its pilot and mainstreaming phase. Indications from this data self-reported by participants show a reduction in service utilisation which includes, seven per cent, reductions in general practitioner consultations, 10 per cent. reductions in outpatient visits, 16 per cent. reductions in accident and emergency attendances, and 9 per cent. reductions in physiotherapy use.
	Further work is under way as part of the broader independent evaluation of the EPP to assess the financial impact of this. Results are expected to be known later in 2006.

Genito-urinary Clinics

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 423W, on genito-urinary clinics, what (a) formula and (b) criteria should be used to allocate the funding.

Caroline Flint: The 200608 revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) separately identify 203 million over the two years to invest in the sexual health modernisation initiative which includes genito-urinary clinics. The funding has been allocated on a weighted capitation basis to all PCTs. It is for PCTs to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations.
	The 15 million allocated in 200506 to strategic health authorities (SHAs) for capital for sexual health services was allocated to SHAs on an equal basis to help reduce waiting times and increase capacity.
	As part of the 200607 capital allocations, 25 million strategic capital was allocated to SHAs for sexual health. This funding was allocated on a weighted capitation basis. It is for SHAs to determine how this funding is distributed within their area.

General Practitioners (Take-home Pay)

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average take-home pay was for general practitioners in (a) England and (b) Beverley and Holderness in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Information on the average take-home pay for general practitioners in England and Beverley and Holderness is not collected centrally. However, figures based on information for Great Britain are available, which is shown in the following table.
	
		
		
			  Intended average net remuneration/income 
		
		
			 199394 40,610 
			 199495 41,890 
			 199596 43,165 
			 199697 44,483 
			 199798 46,031 
			 199899 48,037 
			 19992000 52,606 
			 200001 54,219 
			 200102 56,510 
			 200203 61,618 
			 200304(45) 67,040 
		
	
	(45) Forecast figures.

Health Committee

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written answer of 11 January 2006, Official Report, column 725W, on Health Committee evidence, what percentage of the national health service pay bill was spent on agency staff in each year since 199798; and which groups constitute agency staff for the purpose of these calculations.

Liam Byrne: The Department collects expenditure information on non-national health service staff. Non-NHS staff expenditure includes all agency staff and any other staff not directly employed. Information relating to the percentage of the NHS paybill spent on non-NHS staff under the following categoriesmedical, dental, nursing, midwifery and health visiting, scientific, therapeutic and technical, administrative and clerical, healthcare assistants and other support, maintenance and works, ambulance and other employees from 199798 to 200405, the last year for which figures are currently available is shown in the table. This shows a reversal of the previously upward trend of spend, which we expect to continue due to the range of actions we have in hand to reduce costs, drive down demand and improve quality.
	
		
			  Agency percentage spend 
			 Staff category 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Medical 0.54 0.55 0.57 0.67 0.86 1.08 1.18 1.09 
			 Dental 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 
			 Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 1.34 1.59 1.93 2.12 2.41 2.42 1.84 1.33 
			 Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 0.43 0.55 0.60 0.72 0.85 0.90 0.86 0.70 
			 Administrative and clerical 0.37 0.42 0.48 0.57 0.67 0.67 0.65 0.60 
			 Healthcare assistants and other support staff 0.17 0.18 0.18 0.19 0.19 0.23 0.20 0.18 
			 Maintenance and works staff 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 
			 Ambulance staff 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Other employees 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.14 0.30 0.26 0.27 
			 Total 2.98 3.43 3.90 4.44 5.16 5.64 5.03 4.21 
		
	
	Source:
	Annual Financial Returns of NHS trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities

Health Suppliers

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the contracted obligations of the public sector are under the Connecting for Health Supplier Attachment Scheme; what the maximum cost to public funds is of not meeting these obligations; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations (a) her Department and (b) Connecting for Health have received from (i) local service providers and (ii) NHS bodies about the Supplier Attachment Scheme.

Liam Byrne: The supplier attachment scheme is an arrangement by which national health service personnel are seconded on a temporary basis to work with local service providers to the national programme for information technology (LSPs) to ensure that the systems and services being developed and deployed meet the needs of the NHS. Fulfilment of the arrangement has advantages for the NHS in compensating price reductions and ensuring that NHS expertise is readily available to LSPs.
	The current contractual liability to LSPs in each cluster area in respect of the Supplier Attachment Scheme is as follows:
	London Clusternone
	North West/West Midlands Cluster50 whole-time equivalent staff (6.9 million) per year
	North East and Eastern Clusters (jointly)242,000 man days over the term of the contract (no contracted financial obligation).
	Southern Clusteran agreement has been reached to buy out the liability at a cost of 19 million in 200607 as NHS trusts have decided not to supply the staff resources.
	The LSPs have said that they greatly value the arrangement and the benefits they derive from it.

Hearing Tests

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average waiting time is for (a) children's, (b) adults and (c) all hearing tests for each NHS trust in the county of Bedfordshire; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many NHS hearing tests have been completed in the county of Bedfordshire in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Hearing Tests

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to reduce waiting times for those (a) children and (b) adults in the county of Bedfordshire who need hearing tests; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Nationally and therefore including the county of Bedfordshire, several initiatives have been introduced to improve capacity to deliver audiology services for children and adults. These are the development of a new degree to help to address the shortage of audiologists and the introduction of Hearing Direct that provides follow-up care and advice for hearing aid users who would benefit from this.
	The figures on waiting times for testing and fitting hearing aids are not collected centrally. It is for primary care trusts to ensure their local population benefits from modernised hearing aid services.

HIV/AIDS

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 2 February 2006, Official Report, column 1721W, on HIV/Aids (Hertfordshire), what representations she has made to the Befordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority concerning (a) HIV diagnosis and (b) levels of other sexually transmitted infections.

Caroline Flint: Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for assessing and meeting the needs of their local populations, including the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Sexual health and access to genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics is included as one of the six key priorities for the national health service for 200607. This requires the NHS to take action, through local delivery plans, to reduce waiting times for GUM clinics to 48 hours for all by 2008.

Hospital Audiology Services

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from whom (a) she and (b) the NHS Chief Executive receive advice on hospital audiology services; what information she has received on (i) waiting times and (ii) waiting lists for hearing tests and hearing aid fitting in NHS hospitals; and what advice she has received on how to reduce them.

Liam Byrne: Information on provision of audiology services including waiting times and lists for hearing tests is not held centrally. It is for primary care trusts to plan and commission appropriate services for their local population including those with hearing impairments.
	During 2005, the Department collected unvalidated diagnostic waiting time and activity data, including data on pure tone audiometry, from 21 trusts as part of piloting work. Building on this pilot exercise, the Department introduced a new national diagnostic data collection in January 2006 and expects to commence routine publication of data on diagnostic waiting times and activity from the spring.
	The Healthcare Commission is responsible for monitoring overall performance in the national health service, including audiology services. The Healthcare Commission reports to the NHS Chief Executive and the Secretary of State as part of their responsibilities. Civil servants also provide advice for the Secretary of State and the NHS Chief Executive.

Influenza

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 133W, on influenza, whether she has examined what contribution acute respiratory distress syndrome makes to the mortality rate in influenza outbreaks.

Rosie Winterton: We have not made a specific examination.
	Information on those at an increased risk from influenza and who are recommended influenza vaccine is available at www.immunisation.nhs.uk

Late Payment

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 February to Question 46369, if she will assess the effect of late payments by NHS professionals on small and medium sized firms.

Liam Byrne: NHS Professionals meets or exceeds Confederation of British Industry's Better Payment Practice Code target of paying 95 per cent. of undisputed invoices within contract terms or 30 days where no terms have been agreed.
	In 200405, NHS Professionals paid 97 per cent. of its invoices within the code requirements. It is for all businesses, regardless of size to ensure that their invoices are correct, so that NHS Professionals is able to exceed the target to a greater extent.

Local Authority Finance

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account has been taken in the local authority budget settlements for 200607 of changes in the numbers of people with (a) multiple and profound disabilities and (b) autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger's syndrome.

Liam Byrne: Local authority budget settlements do not take into account changes in the numbers of people in these specific groups.
	From 200607, there is a new needs-based relative needs formulae (RNF) allocation formulae for adults' social care. This incorporates the latest available 2001 Census data, and has been developed following a rigorous process of academic research. The RNF for each personal social services (PSS) service block (younger adults, older people and children) are based on the new PSS formula models described in the recent Office of Deputy Prime Minister consultation. These take into account needs-based variables such as age, deprivation, sparsity, low income and area costs.

Macmillan Nurses

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she is taking to increase the numbers of Macmillan nurses working for the NHS in West Lancashire.

Liam Byrne: It is for the national health service trusts to decide how many nurses including palliative care nurse specialists, are employed in each specialty within hospitals. Local cancer networks work in partnership with primary care trusts, strategic health authorities and their work force development directorates to assess, plan and review their work force, education and training needs for all staff linked to the delivery of local and national priorities for cancer.

Magnet Therapy

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what use is being made of magnet therapy in the NHS; and whether it has been approved by the National Institute for Clinical and Health Excellence.

Jane Kennedy: A product incorporating magnetic therapy to aid the treatment of leg ulcers has recently been added to the list of products which may be supplied to patients via prescriptions on the national health service. Clinicians will decide whether individual patients might benefit from this additional treatment option. Because the product was not previously available on prescription we have no information about its current use on the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has not been asked to appraise this intervention.

Mental Health

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in (a) West Lancashire constituency and (b) Lancashire have had to wait more than (i) one month, (ii) two months and (iii) three months for an appointment with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally.

Mental Health

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to support young people with mental health problems.

Liam Byrne: Improving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is a priority for this Government, as emphasised by the public service agreement standard of a comprehensive in every area of England by the end of 2006. This commitment to improve CAMHS has been backed by significant additional funding, over 300 million in the last three years.
	The CAMHS module of the children's national service framework for England published September 2004 sets the framework for CAMHS for the next 10 years. It sets the standard that all children and young people, from birth to their 18th birthday, who have mental health problems and disorders, will have access to timely, integrated, high quality multidisciplinary mental health services to ensure effective assessment, treatment and support, for them, their parents or carers, and other family members. The position relating to CAMHS in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly.

Midwives

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant midwife posts there are in (a) the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire strategic health authority area and (b) the Peterborough and Stamford hospitals NHS foundation hospitals trust area; and what plans her Department has to recruit more midwives into the NHS in Cambridgeshire.

Rosie Winterton: The table provides national health service three-month vacancies for qualified midwifery staff by NHS trust in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire area.
	The NHS Improvement Plan, published in June 2004, reiterated the Government's commitment to increase numbers of frontline NHS staff. This built on the NHS Plan which made a commitment to increasing nursing staff numbersover 20,000 more nurses working in the NHS and 5,500 extra nurses, midwives and health visitors being trained each year by 2004. These targets have already been met and exceeded. The extra investment announced in the 2002 Budget, builds on the NHS Plan target; by 2008 we expect the NHS to have net increases of at least 35,000 nurses, midwives and health visitors.
	The NHS in Cambridgeshire in common with other areas, will benefit from the contribution of these additions to the NHS work force.
	
		Health and social care information centre vacancies survey March 2005. National health service three-month vacancies for qualified midwifery staff in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire strategic health authority area by organisation. Three-month vacancy rates, numbers and staff in post.
		
			   Midwives 
			   March 2005 September 2004 
			   Three month vacancy rate (percentage) Three month vacancy number (Staff in post) full-time equivalent (Staff in post) headcount 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q0l 1.4 10 694 1,125 
			 Broadland PCT 5JL 0 0 0 0 
			 Cambridge City PCT 5JH 0 0 0 0 
			 Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RGT 0.9 1 111 143 
			 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust RT1 0 0 0 0 
			 Central Suffolk PCT 5JT 0 0 0 0 
			 East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust RMZ 0 0 0 0 
			 East Cambridgeshire and Fenland PCT 5JK 0 0 0 0 
			 Great Yarmouth PCT 5GT 0 0 0 0 
			 Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust RQQ 5.2 3 58 74 
			 Huntingdonshire PCT 5GF 0.0 0 1 1 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust RGQ 0.0 0 101 131 
			 Ipswich PCT 5JQ 0 0 0 0 
			 James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust RGP 0.0 0 56 77 
			 Kings Lynn and Wisbech Hospitals NHS Trust RCX 1.5 1 66 95 
			 Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust RMY 0 0 0 0 
			 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust RM1 2.9 4 144 377 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA QOl 0 0 0 0 
			 North Norfolk PCT 5JM 0 0 0 0 
			 North Peterborough PCT 5AF 0 0 0 0 
			 Norwich PCT 5A2 0 0 0 0 
			 Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RGM 0 0 0 0 
			 Peterborough Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RGN 0.0 0 88 129 
			 South Cambridgeshire PCT 5JJ 0 0 0 0 
			 South Peterborough PCT 5AG 0 0 0 0 
			 Southern Norfolk PCT 5G1 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk Coastal PCT 5JR 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust RT6 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk West PCT 5JW 0 0 0 0 
			 Waveney PCT 5JV 0 0 0 0 
			 West Norfolk PCT 5CY 0 0 0 0 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust RGR 0.0 0 69 98 
		
	
	Notes:
	Three month vacancy:
	1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2005.
	2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole time equivalents).
	3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
	4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004.
	5. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
	6. Figures where sum of staff in post (as at 30 September 2004) and vacancies (as at 31 March 2005) is less than 10.
	Staff in post:
	7. Staff in post data is from the Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004.
	General:
	8. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number.
	9. Calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates.
	10. Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts.
	Sources:
	Health and Social Care Information Centre Vacancies Survey March 2005
	Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004

Research National Database

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the merits of establishing a national database of research into medical conditions for use by NHS consultants and university hospitals carrying out research; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Department funds the national research register which holds information on ongoing and recently completed research in the national health service. The register can be viewed online on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/research. In addition, the map of medicine being developed by Connecting for Health will provide support on best practice in relation to specific clinical conditions. More details are available on their website at: www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/delivery
	In the longer term, proposals in the new national health research strategy Best Research for Best Health for the development of a unified knowledge management system will further meet the information needs of stakeholders including the NHS, research funding organisations, and universities.

NHS Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 1317W, on NHS Finance, which organisations her Department has had cause to remind that payments of pay-as-you-earn and national insurance contributions should be made when they are due, or on the date agreed with the Inland Revenue, in the 200506 financial year; when these organisations were reminded of her Department's policy in each case; which organisations her Department has had to remind of her Department's policy more than once in the 200506 financial year; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Department's policy is that all national health service organisations should ensure that payments of pay-as-you-earn tax and national insurance contributions are made when they are due, or by the date agreed with the Inland Revenue.
	All strategic health authorities have been reminded of this policy and it is their responsibility to ensure that the policy is implemented in the organisations within their local health communities.

NHS Gas Expenditure

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has spent on gas in (a) Leicester and (b) England since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: The table provides the approximate figures the national health service has spent on gas since 1997 using the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's framework agreements.
	
		
			  Approximate spend () 
		
		
			 England  
			 1998 40,539,501 
			 1999 37,878,480 
			 2000 61,433,441 
			 2001 70,139,250 
			 2002 65,572,807 
			 2003 71,617,594 
			 2004 100,560,301 
			 2005 161,336,700 
			 2006 205,917,010 
			   
			 Leicestershire  
			 1998 810,790 
			 1999 757,570 
			 2000 1,228,669 
			 2001 1,402,785 
			 2002 1,311,456 
			 2003 1,432,352 
			 2004 2,011,206 
			 2005 3,226,734 
			 2006 4,118,340 
		
	
	These figures differ from amounts used in previous replies to parliamentary questions. Although still an approximation they follow an exercise to provide the most realistic spend on gas by those trusts utilising framework agreements.
	These trusts currently account for approximately 85 per cent. of the NHS market increasing on a year-by-year basis from 70 per cent, in 2000.

NHS Secondments

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been seconded to new jobs in the NHS to implement 'Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS'.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	The secondment of people to the national health service to implement 'Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS', is a matter for local discretion.

Occupational Therapy (London)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what occupational therapy services are available in each London borough.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available centrally. It is for primary care trusts, in partnership with strategic health authorities, local authorities and other stakeholders, to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision of occupational therapy services.

Pathologists

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the three-month vacancy rate is for pathologists at (a) Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust, (b) Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, (c) Northwick Park Hospital and (d) London hospitals; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not collected in the format requested. However, pathology group vacancy data by all London trusts and by acute trusts are shown in the table.
	
		The three month vacancy rate and number for Pathology Group Specialty Consultants by London Trust, as at 31 March 2005
		
			 Trust name Org Code 3 month vacancy rate (%) 3 month vacancy number Staff in post (full time equivalent) Staff in post (headcount) 
		
		
			 London total  3.4 16 453 521 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 5C2 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust RF4 0.0 0 18 18 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust RVL 0.0 0 11 11 
			 Barnet PCT 5A9 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust RRP (47) 0 0 0 
			 Barts and the London NHS Trust RNJ 0.0 0 34 41 
			 Bexley Care Trust TAK (47) 0 0 0 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 5K5 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust RG3 0.0 0 11 11 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust TAF (47) 0 0 0 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust RV3 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust RQM (46) 0 1 2 
			 City and Hackney PCT 5C3 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Croydon PCT 5K9 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust RC3 (46) 0 7 8 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX (47) 0 0 0 
			 East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust RWK (47) 0 0 0 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust RVR 0.0 0 22 23 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Sick Children NHS Trust RP4 0.0 0 19 21 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 5A8 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Guys and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust RJ1 0.0 0 28 36 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust RQN 5.8 2 32 45 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C9 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Harrow PCT 5K6 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust RAS (46) 0 5 5 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT (47) 0 0 0 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQX (46) 1 3 4 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY (47) 0 0 0 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 5LA (47) 0 0 0 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Trust RJZ 4.4 2 33 38 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust RAX 0.0 0 13 13 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Lambeth PCT 5LD (47) 0 0 0 
			 Lewisham PCT 5LF (47) 0 0 0 
			 London Ambulance service RRU (47) 0 0 0 
			 Mayday HealthCare NHS Trust RJ6 (46) 1 8 10 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RP6 (46) 0 0 1 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust RNH (46) 1 3 3 
			 North Central London SHA Q05 (47) 0 0 0 
			 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust RAT (47) 0 0 0 
			 North East London SHA Q06 0.0 0 0  
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RAP (46) 0 9 10 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust RV8 11.2 2 16 18 
			 North West London SHA Q04 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Oxleas NHS Trust RPG (47) 0 0 0 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust RG2 (46) 0 8 8 
			 Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust RGZ (46) 2 6 7 
			 Redbridge PCT 5NA (47) 0 0 0 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 5M6 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust RT3 (46) 0 7 7 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RAL 4.4 1 22 29 
			 Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RPY 0.0 0 14 15 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust RAN (46) 1 0 0 
			 South East London SHA Q07 (46) 0 1 1 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust RV5 (46) 0 2 2 
			 South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust RQY (47) 0 0 0 
			 South West London SHA Q08 (46) 0 1 1 
			 Southwark PCT 5LE (47) 0 0 0 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust RJ7 0.0 0 22 26 
			 St. Mary's NHS Trust PJ5 0.0 0 17 21 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 5M7 (47) 0 0 0 
			 Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust RNK (47) 0 0 0 
			 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust RJ2 (46) 1 6 7 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust RKE 0.0 0 10 11 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 5C4 (47) 0 0 0 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RRV 0.0 0 48 52 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 5NC (47) 0 0 0 
			 Wandsworth PCT 5LG (47) 0 0 0 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust RKL (47) 0 0 0 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RFW (46) 1 9 9 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC (46) 0 1 1 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust RGC (46) 2 6 6 
		
	
	(46) where the sum of the staff in post (fte) and number of vacancies is less then 10
	(47) where the sum of the staff in post (fte) and number of vacancies is 0
	Notes:
	1. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (full time equivalents (fte)).
	2. Three month Vacancy Rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post (fte).
	3. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number.
	4. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental workforce census
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental vacancy survey
	
		The three month vacancy rate and number for pathology group specialty consultants by London Acute Trust, as at 31 March 2005
		
			 Trust name Org Code 3 month vacancy rate (%) 3 month vacancy number Staff in post (full-time equivalent) Staff in post (headcount) 
		
		
			 London Acute Trust total  3.4 15 424 490 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust RF4 0.0 0 18 18 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust RVL 0.0 0 11 11 
			 Barts and the London NHS Trust RNJ 0.0 0 34 41 
			 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust RG3 0.0 0 11 11 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust RQM (48) 0 1 2 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust RC3 (48) 0 7 8 
			 Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust RVR 0.0 0 22 23 
			 Guys and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust RJ1 0.0 0 28 36 
			 Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust RQN 5.8 2 32 45 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQX (48) 1 3 4 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Trust RJZ 4.4 2 33 38 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust RAX 0.0 0 13 13 
			 Mayday HealthCare NHS Trust RJ6 (48) 1 8 10 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RP6 (48) 0 0 1 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust RNH (48) 1 3 3 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RAP (48) 0 9 10 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust RV8 11.2 2 16 18 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust RG2 (48) 0 8 8 
			 Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust RGZ (48) 2 6 7 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust RT3 (48) 0 7 7 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RAL 4.4 1 22 29 
			 Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RPY 0.0 0 14 15 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust RJ7 0.0 0 22 26 
			 St Mary's NHS Trust RJ5 0.0 0 17 21 
			 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust RJ2 (48) 1 6 7 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust RKE 0.0 0 10 11 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RRV 0.0 0 48 52 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RFW (48) 1 9 9 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust RGC (48) 2 6 6 
		
	
	(48) where the sum of the staff in post (fte) and number of vacancies is less then 10
	Notes:
	1. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (full time equivalents (fte)).
	2. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post (fte).
	3. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number.
	4. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental workforce census
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental vacancy survey

Patient Records

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what circumstances patient records held by general practitioner surgeries can be released to pharmaceutical companies, their agents and staff.

Liam Byrne: Everyone working for or on behalf of the national health service, including general practitioners and their staff, works within a confidentiality code of practice which governs the use of patient information, and also has a legal duty to keep patient care records and patient-identifiable information secure. Under the code, patient care records may only be disclosed with the explicit consent of the patient, or where the record has been effectively anonymised. This obligation is reinforced in the NHS Care Record Guarantee, published in May 2005, which sets out the rules that will govern information held in the NHS Care Records Service. A copy of the guarantee is available in the Library.

Physiotherapists

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many physiotherapists have been matched on each of the available pay grades under the Agenda for Change pay system.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is shown in the table. The table shows the number of outcomes on the Computer Aided Job Evaluation (CAJE) database distributed by band.
	
		
			 Band Number of matches on CAJE 
		
		
			 1 3 
			 2 585 
			 3 1,015 
			 4 196 
			 5 703 
			 6 2,324 
			 7 2,655 
			 8a 604 
			 8b 216 
			 8c 51 
			 8d 8 
			 9 1 
			 Total 8,361 
			 Unbanded(49) 322 
		
	
	(49) Includes failed matches and unfinished matches and evaluations.
	Note:
	Each matching outcome can relate to a number of posts.
	Source:
	Computer Aided Job Evaluation Database at 15 February 2006

Primary Care Trusts

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average expenditure by NHS primary care trusts per head of population on learning disability services was in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: The information available is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Expenditure per head on the national health service commissioning of learning disability services () 
		
		
			 199798 26.09 
			 199899 26.79 
			 19992000 29.02 
			 200001 30.50 
			 200102 31.17 
			 200203 28.45 
			 200304 32.41 
			 200405 33.66 
		
	
	Figures relate to expenditure on the commissioning of learning disability services by primary care trusts (PCTs) and health authorities in England.
	Expenditure figures for 199798 to 200102 contain an element of double counting where one organisation would commission healthcare through another. This cannot be eliminated and may be responsible for the apparent fall in expenditure in 200203. All figures from 200203 exclude the double counting and are therefore more reliable.
	This expenditure is for the purchase of secondary healthcare only; the Department has no information for primary care expenditure in this area.

Primary Care Trusts

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of (a) the appropriateness of the system of weighting of the primary care trust recurrent allocation per head of population and (b) the difference between the highest and lowest weighted allocations per head of population; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: A weighted-capitation formula is used to inform revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs). The aim of the formula is to ensure there is sufficient funding to provide equal access for equal need in all parts of the country, and to reduce health inequalities. The weighting applied to populations reflects differences in the level of need.
	The development of the weighted-capitation formula is kept under constant review by the advisory committee on resource allocation (ACRA). ACRA's objective is to ensure equity in resource allocation. ACRA is an independent body comprising national health service management, general practitioners and academic members. Prior to each allocations round ACRA makes recommendations to Ministers on potential changes to the formula. Any recommendations that ACRA make in relation to proposed changes to the formula, are based on the best evidence and research available.
	The most recent round of revenue allocations covers the period 200607 and 200708. The highest allocation per weighted head in 200708 will be 1,597 and the lowest allocation will be 1,336.

Private Finance Initiative

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on private finance initiative projects in the last three years; and what the estimated levels are over the next three years.

Jane Kennedy: Over the last three years the following private finance initiative (PFI) projects over 10 million have reached financial close.
	
		
			  Capital value ( million) 
		
		
			 Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership 83 
			 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 36 
			 Cambridge University Hospital NHS Trust 76 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 512 
			 Daventry and South Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust 28 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 67 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 33 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 265 
			 Lewisham Hospitals NHS Trust 72 
			 New Forest Primary Care Trust 36 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust 299 
			 Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust 32 
			 North Kirklees Primary Care Trust 27 
			 Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 19 
			 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre 37 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust 129 
			 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 193 
			 Salisbury Healthcare NHS Trust 24 
			 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 35 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust 326 
			 Wandsworth Primary Care Trust 75 
		
	
	49 PFI schemes are currently being taken forward; their capital value is estimated to be between 79 billion. Of these schemes the following are expected to reach financial close within the next three years (the remaining 13 are expected to do so after that period):
	Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust
	Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust
	Barts and the London NHS Trust
	Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford Primary Care Trust
	Derbyshire Mental Health NHS Trust
	East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust
	Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust
	Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust
	Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust
	Langbaurgh Primary Care Trust
	Leicestershire Partnerships NHS Trust
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
	Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust
	Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	North Bristol/South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trusts
	North Middlesex University Hospitals NHS Trust
	North West London Hospitals NHS Trust
	Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust
	Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust
	Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
	Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
	Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust
	Selby and York Primary Care Trust
	South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust
	South Essex Partnership
	Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Southend Hospital NHS Trust
	St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust
	Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust
	Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust
	Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust
	Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust
	University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust
	University Hospital of North Staffordshire
	University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
	Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust

Sentinel Computer System

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on (a) the delivery and performance of the Sentinel system procured by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and (b) its use by manufacturers and others using the services of the agency.

Jane Kennedy: The full implementation of the Sentinel programme will transform all the MHRA's regulatory responsibilities from a paper-based system to electronic working both internally within the MHRA and externally with its stakeholders. The programme, which will run for 10 years, takes forward the MHRA's information management strategy which was developed in 2000. There have been some technical operational and performance issues in certain areas of the programme which in turn have lead to delays in the day-to-day work of the MHRA. These have or are being resolved and urgent cases are being processed promptly. Positive improvements have already been achieved and more are forecast. A core part of the Sentinel programme relates to the MHRA's ability to interact electronically with its stakeholders and several pilots have been piloted with a number of companies prior to implementation. In preparation for electronic working, some 25 million pages of historical data and documents were digitised and loaded into the system. Pharmaceutical companies will therefore have no need to re-submit this original data and will benefit from being able to immediately start working electronically.

Sexual Health

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what extra (a) finance and (b) personnel are planned to be allocated to promoting sexual health over the next three years; and what new initiatives are planned for that period.

Caroline Flint: Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for delivering sexual health services to their local populations and resource this from their baselines allocations. Sexual health and access to genito-urinary clinics is one of the six top priorities for the national health service in 200607.
	In February 2005, individual PCTs were notified of their additional choosing health revenue allocation for sexual health. In 200607, an extra 91.5 million will be allocated to PCTs for sexual health modernisation which includes funding for chlamydia screening, genito-urinary medicine (GUM) and reproductive health. A further 111.5 million will be allocated in 200708. Also, an extra 15 million for capital was allocated this financial year for sexual health services and a further 25 million allocated in 200607.
	The national chlamydia screening programme already has 26 regional programmes implemented, covering over 25 per cent. of PCTs in England. By April 2006, we expect to see screening happening in the whole of England. This is well ahead of the 2007 target. The vision is to implement a multi-faceted, evidence-based and cost-effective national prevention and control programme for genital chlamydial infection in England.
	Between September 2004 and June 2005 the number of consultants in the GUM speciality increased by seven (2.1 per cent.) and between September 1997 and June 2005 by 88 (26.9 per cent.). Since 1997 the number of hospital, public health medicine and community health services staff with a speciality in GUM in England has increased by 197 (21.7 per cent.) and by 28 (3.1 per cent.) between September 2003 and September 2004 (906). In addition to increasing consultant numbers, our strategic aim is to achieve greater diversity of sexual health service provision, which should help to relieve pressure on GUM consultants. This is being supported through measures such as the GUM service review, the audit of contraception services, and greater service provision outside of the GUM setting.

Sexual Health

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to improve sexual health among young people.

Caroline Flint: The inclusion of sexual health in the six national health service key priorities for 200607 is a further demonstration that sexual health is regarded as important and mainstream. The national strategy for sexual health and HIV (2001) sets out our long term plan to improve sexual health and modernise services, and identified young people as being one of the groups most vulnerable to poor sexual health. A new sexual health campaign focusing on younger men and women was announced in the White Paper Choosing Health and this builds on previous commitments to public health information aspects of this strategy.
	This also links closely to the cross-Government teenage pregnancy strategy, which is currently running radio, targeted magazine, satellite TV and cinema adverts aimed at 15 to 17-year-olds as part of its Want Respect, Use A Condom campaign. Furthermore, the R U Thinking campaign is targeting 13 to 15-year-olds with messages encouraging delaying early sex in teenage magazine titles and online.
	Sex and relationship education (SRE) is a key part of the personal, social and health education which is taught in all schools. This is reinforced by the healthy schools programme, which sets criteria for schools to achieve healthy school status. This includes a requirement that schools have an up to date SRE policy and implement this throughout their curriculum and pastoral provision, make good use of school nurses and sexual health outreach workers and have effective referral arrangements to specialist services. To date, over 75 per cent. of schools are participating in the programme.
	Added to this is the accelerated roll-out of the national Chlamydia screening programme which targets the sexually active under-25s, currently expected to reach 80 per cent. coverage of primary care trusts in England by April 2006. We are also piloting Chlamydia screening through Boots pharmacies in London and making improvements to contraception services.
	In addition to this national work, PCTs are responsible for providing sexual health services and health promotion which meet the needs of their local populations. To support them in this role, the Department has published good practice guidance and recommended standards, which include specific guidance in respect of services for young people. All of these documents are available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk

Smoking

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received on elastic cigarettes developed by British American Tobacco; and what assessment she has made of their health effects.

Caroline Flint: Elastic cigarettes is a term explained in The Lancet March 4 2006 paper, Secret science: tobacco industry research on smoking behaviour and cigarette toxicity by Hammond D et al. In this paper, the authors report that
	BAT developed elastic cigarettes that produced low yields under standard testing procedure, whereas in consumers' hands they elicited more intensive smoking and provided higher concentrations of tar and nicotine to smokers.
	In the paper, the term smoke elasticity is reference to a 1983 British American Tobacco (BAT) research conference in Brazil.
	The Department is not aware of specific representations about BAT elastic cigarettes and no specific assessment therefore made. General awareness among the scientific community about misleading terms on cigarettes packs resulted in the introduction of EU Directive 2001/37/EC which lead to the banning of terms such as low tar, light, ultra-light and mild from cigarette packs sold in the United Kingdom from October 2003 and other tobacco products from October 2004.

Smoking

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people she estimates have (a) started and (b) stopped smoking in each quarter of each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: The information is not available in the form requested.
	We are only able to provide data on the number of people who set a quit date through the NHS Stop Smoking Services and of those, how many had successfully quit (based on self report), in England.
	The following table provides quarterly and annual data on the monitoring of the NHS Stop Smoking Services, for the period April 2000 to September 2005.
	
		People(50) setting a quit date and those successfully quit(51), April 2000 to September 2005, England
		
			  Quarter Number setting a quit date Successful quitters 
		
		
			 April to March 2000 1 12,432 4,242 
			  2 20,694 9,229 
			  3 30,946 15,411 
			  4 68,472 35,672 
			 2000 total  132,544 64,554 
			 
			 April to March 2001 1 56,935 28,828 
			  2 48,578 25,054 
			  3 48,155 25,518 
			  4 73,667 40,434 
			 2001 total  227,335 119,834 
			 
			 April to March 2002 1 59,810 30,752 
			  2 49,049 24,976 
			  3 48,511 25,382 
			  4 77,488 42,972 
			 2002 total  234,858 124,082 
			 April to March 2003 1 68,620 36,573 
			  2 67,075 35,968 
			  3 76,400 43,615 
			  4 149,129 88,720 
			 2003 total  361,224 204,876 
			 
			 April to March 2004 1 104,420 56,192 
			  2 103,969 56,058 
			  3 109,781 62,121 
			  4 211,397 123,753 
			 2004 total  529,567 298,124 
			 
			 April to September 2005 1 142,717 74,719 
			  2 121,791 63,175 
			 2005 total  264,508 137,894 
		
	
	(50) Aged 16 and over.
	(51) A client is counted as having successfully quit smoking at the four week follow-up if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date. The figures presented here are based on self-report of smoking status by the client at the four week follow-up.
	Notes:
	1. 200506 Quarter one and two figures are provisional.
	2. Current data and information on NHS Stop Smoking Services is available at: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/ICpubfolder_view
	3. Historic data and information on NHS Stop Smoking Services can be found at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/StatisticalPublicHealth/Statistical
	PublicHealthArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4032542chk=
	GhPZ%2By
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, Lifestyles Statistics

Smoking

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department spent on treating smoking-related illnesses in each of the past five years.

Caroline Flint: The information is not available in the form requested.
	The latest estimated data on the cost to the national health service of treating smoking-related illnesses is between 1.4 to 1.7 billion every year in terms of general practitioner visits, prescriptions, treatment and operations.

Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rating was given to Southport and Ormskirk NHS trust by the turnaround team.

Liam Byrne: We envisage that the turnaround teams will be needed for around 18 months. This will take us to the end of 200607, when we expect the national health service to have returned to financial balance.
	The first phase of this assessment is complete and Southport and Ormskirk hospital NHS trust was included in this assessment. It was assessed as requiring additional expertise to support turnaround. The team is agreeing a tailored package of turnaround support with the organisation.

Sterile Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish findings from the Pathfinder for Sterile Services.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 9 November 2005, Official Report, column 637W.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of acute hospital bed capacity at the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is not held centrally. The Department sets the national strategy for service delivery, but it is for the relevant strategic health authority and its local health community to ensure there is sufficient capacity in place to deliver health care services effectively.

Thyroid Malfunctions

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued to doctors on the early diagnosis of thyroid malfunctions.

Liam Byrne: At present, it is considered good medical practice to confirm a diagnosis of both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism though physical examination, clinical history and blood tests.
	Prodigy guidance (www.prodigy.nhs.uk) offers advice on the management of a range of conditions and symptoms, including hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism that are commonly seen in primary care. The guidance is advisory and has been developed to assist health care professionals, together with patients, make decisions about the management of the patient's health.

Waiting Lists

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the waiting list for (a) hip replacement and (b) prosthetic knee replacement operations in (i) 200405 and (ii) to date in 200506 by region in England;
	(2)  how many people are waiting for prosthetic (a) fitting and (b) replacement operations, broken down by category of prosthesis.

Jane Kennedy: Waiting time data is collected at speciality level, for example trauma and orthopaedics, and is available on the Department's website at: www.performance.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/index.htm
	It is not possible to split this data down to show waiting list data for specific operations, for example hip or prosthetic knee replacements. It is also not possible to determine from this data how many people are waiting for a prosthetic fitting or replacement operation.